Place Value

What is place value?

Place value is the idea that the position of a digit tells you how much it is worth. In 342, the 3 is not just “three” — it means 3 hundreds, or 300. This tool makes that visible: every digit is shown as a pile of base-ten blocks in its own labeled column, so children can literally see that ten ones make a ten and ten tens make a hundred.

How to use this tool

• Pick a number size — “to 100” shows tens and ones, “to 1,000” adds hundreds, and “Big” adds thousands.
• Tap + and − under each place to add or take away blocks and watch them appear.
• Read the number — press play to light up each place in turn and hear its part read aloud.
• See the expanded form — the number breaks apart into 300 + 40 + 2 so the value of every digit is clear.

Why it helps

Base-ten blocks connect the digits children write to real quantities they can count. Seeing 300 + 40 + 2 built from blocks — and hearing the parts named — builds the number sense behind regrouping, comparing, rounding, and column addition and subtraction later on.

Good for

Grades 1–4: understanding two-, three-, and four-digit numbers, expanded form, and the ones/tens/hundreds/thousands places.