Comparing and ordering, reading the arrow on the line, the tens either side of a number, and estimating where a number sits when only the ends are marked.
Choose what to practise
Each round is 10 questions, and takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Finished
In Year 2, children learn to place numbers on a number line and estimate where numbers belong. They also compare and order numbers up to 100, using the signs <, > and =. On a number line, a number further to the right is larger, so the line helps with comparing as well as placing.
Start with the ends and the middle. On a line marked only 0 and 100, ask where 50 goes, then 25 and 75. Once these are in place, your child can use them to place other numbers, so 30 goes between 25 and 50, closer to 25.
Count the jumps. On a number line marked in ones from 40 to 50, an arrow at 43 is three jumps after 40. That gives 40 + 3 = 43.
Estimating between two tens. 62 lies between 60 and 70, just past 60. On a number line marked in tens, place it closer to 60 than to 70.
Watch out for counting the marks. If your child reads an arrow at 43 as 44, check whether they counted the marks instead of the jumps. Point to the gaps and count them together, saying one jump, two jumps, three jumps.
If your child is unsure that the 4 in 43 means 4 tens, play Tens and ones first.
In Year 3, children compare and order numbers up to 1,000. Estimating where 62 lies between 60 and 70 also prepares children for rounding, which uses the halfway point, 65, to decide whether to go up or down. In Year 4, children round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000.
The Year 3 game, The Number Line to 1000, places and estimates numbers on a line to 1,000. See the Place Value path for the whole sequence.