Montessori Adding Tens Task Cards | Golden Beads & Stamp Game Place Value

Adding tens can feel simple to adults, but for children it is an important place value step: they need to see that adding 10, 20, 30, or more changes the tens column while the units often stay the same.

These Montessori Adding Tens Task Cards give children hands-on practice with adding decades using Golden Beads, the Stamp Game, or other base ten materials. They help students see what is really happening when they solve equations such as 34 + 10 or 62 + 30.

Instead of memorising a trick, children build the number, add the tens, and notice the place value pattern for themselves.

What’s included

This printable resource includes:

• 50 task cards for equations such as 34 + 10 and 62 + 30
• 36 missing addend cards such as 42 + ___ = 62
• 18 word problem task cards
• Montessori-style colour coding
• Practice for adding in the tens column
• Printable task card format
• 20 pages total

Skills covered

Children will practise:

• Adding tens to two-digit numbers
• Skip counting by tens from different starting points
• Understanding tens and units
• Seeing how the tens digit changes
• Recognising that the units column often stays the same in static equations
• Solving missing addend problems
• Applying place value understanding to word problems
• Moving from concrete materials toward mental maths

Why this resource helps

Children often learn to “add a ten” as a shortcut, but some do not fully understand what is happening. This can lead to confusion later with regrouping, larger numbers, subtraction, and mental maths.

These task cards slow the process down in a Montessori way. Children can use Golden Beads or the Stamp Game to physically build the starting number, add tens, and observe the change in the tens column.

For teachers and homeschoolers, this gives you ready-made follow-up work that supports independence and meaningful repetition. Print once, prepare the cards, and use them again for maths shelves, small group lessons, revision, or intervention.

Perfect for

• Montessori lower elementary classrooms
• Homeschool maths lessons
• Golden Beads follow-up work
• Stamp Game practice
• Place value lessons
• Skip counting by tens
• Missing addend practice
• Maths centres
• Independent shelf work
• Intervention and revision

Created by a Montessori teacher

Created by a Montessori-trained teacher and school leader, this resource is designed for real classrooms where children need concrete materials, repeated practice, and clear links between place value and written equations.

Use it to help children understand that 21 + 20 is really 21 + 10 + 10 — and to build the confidence they need for later addition, subtraction, and mental maths.

These are also available in my place value bundle here or links to the individual products below: 

Introduction to base 10
Make me
Place Value Tens and units
Basic Place Value Task Cards
Advanced place value task cards set 2
Montessori Math: Hundreds Board Task Cards
Montessori Math: Hundred Board Puzzle Piece Task Cards

Check out our money saving maths bundle or junior math bundle.