Number Bond Garden Game

How to play Number Bond Garden?
Your goal is to clear the board.

• Select a free orb, then select another free orb, such that their numbers add up to ten, to remove both orbs from the board.
  
• An orb is free only if it has three empty spaces next to it. Luckily, spaces off the board count as empty spaces.
  
• The “Help” button will show this clearly.
  

The possible matches are:
1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6, 5 + 5.
The 10 orb is special and can be removed once it is free.

Click on a free orb to start playing!

 

Dim Blocked
On: Dim the orbs that not free, so that you can concentrate on the ones that are free. Off: All orbs are not dimmed.

Made a mistake
If you made a mistake you can use the undo button.

Difficulty Levels
There are two difficulty levels:

1. Easy: A board with 37 orbs.
2. Hard: A bigger board with 55 orbs.

Strategies for this game

• If you can eliminate a number (and its counterpart) from the board without removing other orbs, it’s always safe to do so (it can’t make a winnable state unwinnable). If you have to remove a few other orbs to do so, it’s still often worthwhile, as it can often free several other orbs.
• Try to create islands of free orbs, and then keep them around to be used only as a last resort.
• Try to identify potential troublesome spots ahead of time. E.g. if you have several 3’s that are surrounded by 7’s, you’ll need a plan to match one or more of those 7’s with a 3 outside of the blockage.

Why learn number bonds to 10?
Number bonds to 10 are extremely useful and are considered a foundational pillar of early mathematics education. They represent the essential pairs of numbers that add up to ten (0+10, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5) and their mastery is key to developing mental math fluency, confidence, and number sense in young learners.

1. Foundation for Mental Arithmetic
   Mental Math Speed: Instant recall of number bonds allows children to solve calculations quickly without relying on counting on their fingers.
   Bridge to 10 Strategy or “Making Ten” Strategy: They are essential for addition and subtraction that crosses the ten barrier. For example, to calculate 8 + 5, a child who knows that 8 + 2 = 10 can break 5 into 2 and 3, making the calculation (8 + 2) + 3 = 13.
   

2. Conceptual Understanding
   Part-Part-Whole Relationships: Number bonds visually show that a single number (the whole) is made up of smaller parts, facilitating a deeper understanding of number composition and decomposition.
   Inverse Operations: Number bonds teach addition and subtraction simultaneously (e.g., if 4+6=10, then 10-4=6).
   Commutativity: They demonstrate that the order of the numbers does not affect the sum (3+7 is the same as 7+3).
   

3. Stepping Stone to Complex Math
   Foundation for Larger Numbers: Knowing number bonds to 10 makes learning number bonds to 20, 50, and 100 significantly easier.
   Pattern Recognition: They allow children to spot patterns. If they know 3 + 7 = 10, they can easily understand 30 + 70 = 100.
   

4. Practical Application
   Real-World Connections: Number bonds are easily demonstrated using everyday items like fingers, toes, pennies in a dime, or ten-frame manipulatives.
   Games-Based Learning: Because there are only five main pairs, they are easily reinforced through games like the Number Bond Garden, making them engaging rather than purely academic.
   

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