You can also play Wishball Challenge 100s and Wishball Challenge Whole Numbers
Enjoy Playing Learning "Tens" With this Wishball Game
Imagine tossing around a soft, colorful ball that’s covered in numbers from 1 to 9—and every time you catch it, you have to team up with a friend to make ten. That’s the basic idea behind the Wishball game for learning “tens.” You stand in a circle, someone calls out “Ready?” and you give that ball a toss. Wherever your fingers land, that number is yours. Then, your partner has to shout out the number that adds with yours to make ten. It’s part active play, part quick-thinking math challenge, and it somehow manages to feel more like recess than arithmetic drill.
What’s neat is how adaptable it is. In a classroom you might have students line up in two rows and keep score, while at home a parent and child can just play for fun and bragging rights. You can set a timer for two minutes of nonstop catching, or play slow and steady so each kid really thinks about what goes with their number. If someone hesitates, the group can drop hints—like “you need a six to go with a four”—which turns it into a gentle team effort, not a high-pressure quiz.
By moving, chatting, and laughing, kids internalize those number bonds without realizing they’re getting smarter. They aren’t just memorizing that 7 + 3 is 10; they’re feeling it in their hands, hearing it called out, seeing it scored on a chalkboard or chart. It’s exactly the kind of playful approach that sticks: before you know it, students start spotting pairs of tens in grocery aisles, on clock faces or in sports jerseys, because they’ve practiced so dynamically. And honestly, when math feels this friendly, everyone ends up wanting to play “just one more round.”