Number Bonds Worksheets

What is a number bond?

A number bond is a pair of numbers that together make a third one: 3 and 7 make 10, so 3, 7 and 10 form a bond. Drawn as a tree it is one circle on top with two circles underneath, and that picture is the reason the idea sticks. A child who knows the bonds of ten does not calculate 7 plus 3, they recall it, and every mental strategy that follows, bridging through ten, subtracting by counting up, giving change, is built on that recall.

The same bond, six different pictures

Bond trees, wheels, bar models, ten frames, loose counters and the rainbow all say the same thing, and children lock on to different ones. The bar model is drawn to scale, so the missing bar hints at its own size. The ten frame lets both parts be read rather than worked out. The wheel keeps the whole fixed in the hub and turns the same fact six ways. The rainbow turns a list of pairs into one picture. When a set of bonds refuses to stick, change the picture before you change the numbers.

Which part is missing matters

Hiding the second part, hiding the first one and hiding the whole are three different exercises. The first is straightforward, the second forces a child to read past a blank, and the third runs the bond forwards as an addition instead of backwards as a subtraction. All three are here, along with plain number sentences for when the diagram comes off, and fact family triangles that show how one bond already contains two additions and two subtractions.

Where it fits

Number bonds sit between counting and written arithmetic. If your child is still counting objects, start with our kindergarten math worksheets and come back. Once the bonds of ten are automatic, our addition worksheets and subtraction worksheets stop being counting exercises and start being recall, and the bonds of 100 are the step behind giving change. Like the rest of our math worksheets, every PDF prints at 100% scale on US Letter or A4, free for classrooms and homeschools with no sign-up.

Frequently asked questions

What age are number bonds worksheets for?

Ages 5 to 8, so kindergarten through second grade. Bonds to 5 and to 10 are kindergarten work, bonds to 20 belong in first grade, and the bonds of 50 and 100 arrive in second grade with money and mental addition. Start at the total your child can already picture and only move up when the pairs come back without counting.

Which bonds should be memorised first?

The bonds of ten, without question. They are the smallest set with the biggest payoff, because almost every mental strategy in early arithmetic works by getting to a ten first. Print the rainbow and the ten frame pages for those, and treat everything else as practice rather than memorisation.

Is there an answer key?

No, each PDF is a single worksheet with no separate answer sheet. With a fixed whole on every page the answers are checkable at a glance, and better still, a child can check their own with counters or by covering part of a ten frame.