Place Value: Creature Lab (for Base 10)

Creature Lab – Build-a-Number Place Value Activity

Welcome to the Creature Lab, where young scientists bring maths to life! In this fun, hands-on activity, pupils create their own weird and wonderful creatures while developing a strong understanding of place value.

Children are given a number and must build a creature to match it, using different features to represent each part of the number:

Hundreds = body types
Tens = legs / limbs
Ones = eyes / features

Or for 2 digit numbers, use Tens+ body and limbs

For example, the number 247 becomes a creature with 2 bodies, 4 legs, and 7 eyes!

Set in a vibrant, sci-fi laboratory, pupils can use Base 10 blocks alongside cut-and-stick creature features to design their creations on the lab workbench, making this a highly visual and memorable way to explore number structure.

What’s included:

• Creature Lab background scene (A4, print-ready)
• A range of creature bodies, eyes, mouths, and features to cut and use in addition to the Base 10
• Number cards (perfect for differentiation)
• Designed to be used with Base 10 resources