How to compare
Look at tens first, ones second
Two numbers stand side by side: which is bigger? There is a golden rule for comparing two-digit numbers, and it has only two steps. Step one: compare the tens. The number with more tens is bigger, and you can stop there. 72 beats 68 because 7 tens beat 6 tens, full stop. Step two: only if the tens are equal, compare the ones. 72 beats 75? No — the tens match, so look at the ones: 5 is bigger than 2, so 75 wins.
The picture on this page makes the rule obvious, because you can see why it works. A mat full of rods towers over a mat with only loose cubes. Even a handful of rods beats any pile of cubes, because every single rod is worth ten cubes. Compare 43 and 39 by looking at the mats: the left mat shows four fat rods, the right mat shows three. Four rods are more than three rods, so 43 is bigger — the loose cubes never even get a vote.
The symbols > (greater than) and < (less than) point at the smaller number like an open mouth ready to eat the bigger one. The mouth always opens toward the larger amount: 43 > 39 means 43 is greater than 39. Some children remember it as a hungry alligator; others read it as "the arrow points at the smaller one." The = sign means exactly equal — both mats hold the same total, even if the rods and cubes are arranged differently.
Comparing numbers may feel like a small skill, but it powers bigger ideas. Place value comparison is how children check whether an answer is reasonable, how they understand "greater than" in stories, and how they will later compare fractions, decimals, and even measurements. Every time your child compares two numbers by their tens and ones, they are sharpening the exact judgment that turns arithmetic into real math.
- Compare tens first. More tens means a bigger number.
- Only when tens tie, compare the ones.
- The symbol opens toward the bigger number.
- Equal means both sides hold exactly the same amount.
How to play
Choose a game, then solve it
Choose Choose bigger when you want to decide which mat has more. Read the two numbers, compare the tens first, and click the larger mat itself. The sentence below the mat helps you check your thinking. To change activities later, press Exit game, confirm, and choose another mode from the game menu.
Choose Make bigger when you want a precise target. The question tells you how much bigger the left number must become — always an amount from 1 to 10. Use the Left +10, Left +1, Left −10, and Left −1 buttons to reach that exact amount, then click Check answer.
Say each sentence out loud: "Sixty-eight is less than seventy-two." Then try saying it with the symbol: "Sixty-eight is less than seventy-two, so 68 < 72." Reading the sentence both ways — with words and with symbols — is what makes the symbols stop being mysterious squiggles.
When you finish a round, the board celebrates and loads a fresh question. You can also press New pair whenever you want to skip ahead. The target must be exact: if the right side is 41 and the question says “make the left side 4 bigger,” the finished left side must be 45—not merely any number greater than 41.
Parent guide
Compare everything, everywhere
Comparison practice does not need worksheets — it needs questions. "Who has more grapes, you or me?" "Which bag of rice is heavier?" "Which shelf has more books?" Every real comparison lets your child practice the same two-step logic on a familiar object, then carry it back to numbers.
- When you compare 52 and 49, ask: "Which has more tens?" before anything else.
- Make it physical: line up bundles of ten straws and loose straws for each number.
- Play "I'm thinking of a number": give clues like "It has 6 tens and it is bigger than 64."
- Write both numbers on paper and trace the symbol with a finger before writing it.
One common trap is comparing digit by digit from the left without understanding why. A child may know "7 beats 6, so 72 beats 68" but not realize the 7 is really seventy. Ask them to read the digits aloud as amounts — "seventy-two has seventy, sixty-eight has sixty" — and the rule stops being magic and starts being obvious.
