Help your students build fluency and confidence with number combinations that add to ten with the Up, Up & Away Friends of Ten Worksheet! Developing a solid understanding of Friends of Ten is an essential skill for young mathematicians. It strengthens mental maths strategies and provides a key foundation for success across all mathematical operations in primary school.

In this fun and engaging worksheet, students are asked to colour pairs of balloons that combine to make ten. This activity encourages careful thinking, visual scanning, and attention to detail while reinforcing number bonds to ten in an interactive way. It’s a simple yet effective way to consolidate this vital skill through hands-on practise.

The Up, Up & Away Friends of Ten Worksheet is part of our comprehensive Friends of Ten Worksheet Package and offers a fantastic opportunity for students to build fluency. You can also pair it with our Friends of Ten Apple Picking, Friends of Ten Puppet Show, Friends of Ten Shop with Mr Bog, and Friends of Ten Race to the Sky interactive games to create a varied and engaging fluency program.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Develop fluency with number combinations that total ten
• ✅ Build mental maths speed and accuracy
• ✅ Strengthen number sense and understanding of number bonds
• ✅ Support visual recognition and matching of number pairs
• ✅ Provide a strong foundation for future mathematical learning

What’s Included:

• Up, Up & Away Friends of Ten worksheet activity
• Task involves:
  • - Identifying and colouring pairs of balloons that make ten
• Part of our Friends of Ten Worksheet Package

Materials Needed:

• Printed Up, Up & Away worksheet
• Coloured pencils, crayons, or markers
• Pencils and erasers for working out sums as needed
• Optional: counters or tens frames to provide concrete support

How to Use:

1. Print the worksheet and distribute to students individually or in small groups.
2. Review Friends of Ten facts with the class using visual or concrete materials.
3. Model how to scan the worksheet, identify balloon pairs that equal ten, and colour them in.
4. Students complete the activity, checking their work carefully for accuracy.
5. Follow up with discussion or additional games to reinforce number bonds to ten.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as an independent consolidation task after explicit teaching of Friends of Ten facts.
• 💡 Include in Maths rotations as a fun fluency-building station.
• 💡 Use during intervention sessions to target and support students needing extra practise.
• 💡 Display completed worksheets on a Friends of Ten wall for student reference.
• 💡 Pair with interactive games such as Apple Picking and Race to the Sky to add variety and engagement to fluency lessons.

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Encourage students to verbalise their thinking as they identify and colour correct balloon pairs.
• 💛 Use tens frames or counters alongside the worksheet to scaffold understanding for students who need it.
• 💛 Provide extension opportunities by challenging students to write all the Friends of Ten equations they can find after completing the colouring task.
• 💛 Combine with our Friends of Ten Task Card Package for even more hands-on fluency practise.
• 💛 Celebrate student success by displaying completed worksheets or adding them to Maths portfolios.

The Up, Up & Away Friends of Ten Worksheet offers a fun, visual way to build fluency with number combinations to ten - helping your students develop the accuracy, speed, and confidence they need to succeed in Maths!