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Maths

Decimals Worksheets

Free printable decimal practice using the same base ten blocks as whole numbers, with the flat standing for one. Name decimals from blocks, fill a place value chart, write expanded form, or compare decimals including the pairs that catch children out.

Base ten blocksTenths & hundredthsTricky pairsAnswer key
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Four steps

How to make a decimals worksheet

  1. 1

    Say what one is

    The flat now means one, not a hundred. State it explicitly.

  2. 2

    Name decimals from blocks

    Reading the model comes before the notation.

  3. 3

    Use the place value chart

    It keeps the columns visible without the blocks.

  4. 4

    Then compare

    Keep tricky pairs on, or the misconception goes uncaught.

The error that defines this topic

Children reliably judge 0.25 to be larger than 0.7. It is not carelessness, and telling them they are wrong does very little. They are applying a rule that has been reliable for their entire mathematical life: more digits means a bigger number. It just stops being true after the decimal point.

Place value is what replaces it. Seven tenths against two tenths and five hundredths is not a close call, and with blocks in front of them it is not even a comparison, it is just looking. This generator keeps those pairs on by default, because a comparison sheet made of random decimals will mostly avoid the exact case that matters.

The blocks do not change, the agreement does

Base ten blocks model decimals perfectly without any new equipment. If the flat is one whole, a rod is a tenth and a unit is a hundredth. The physical relationships are identical, because ten of each still makes the next one up.

Say this out loud before starting. A child who has spent a year being told the flat is a hundred will not silently update, and quietly reusing the picture with a new meaning is how confusion gets built in.

Say the digits separately

Read 1.42 as “one point four two”, never “one point forty-two”. Saying forty-two implies the digits after the point are a single number, which is precisely the belief that makes 0.25 look bigger than 0.7. The reading either reinforces place value or undermines it, and it costs nothing to get right.

Decimals and fractions are one topic

0.5, one half and five tenths are three names for the same length. Teaching decimals and fractions as separate subjects with their own unrelated rules doubles the work and makes both harder to hold onto. If the fraction wall is already familiar, use it here: the half row and 0.5 are the same distance along.

Related printables

Place value covers the whole-number side with the same blocks, fractions covers the other notation, and the math worksheet generator handles the arithmetic.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

Because 25 is bigger than 7, and because more digits has always meant a bigger number until now. It is the single most common decimal error and it is not carelessness: it is a sensible rule being applied outside the place it works. The fix is place value, not correction. Once a child sees that 0.7 is seven tenths and 0.25 is two tenths and five hundredths, the comparison answers itself.

The blocks do not change at all. What changes is which one counts as one. If the large flat square is one whole, then a rod is a tenth and a small unit is a hundredth. This is worth stating out loud rather than sliding past, because a child who has spent a year being told a flat is a hundred needs to be told clearly that we are now agreeing it is one.

Yes. Five tenths and fifty hundredths are the same amount, in the same way that a half and two quarters are. Trailing zeros after the decimal point change nothing, which surprises children who have learned that adding a zero to 5 makes 50. The block model shows it directly: five rods cover exactly the same area as fifty units.

As "one point four two", not "one point forty-two". Saying forty-two implies the digits after the point form a single number, which is exactly the misconception that makes 0.25 look bigger than 0.7. Reading each digit separately keeps the place value audible.

They are the same thing written differently. A tenth is 1/10 and a hundredth is 1/100, and 0.5 is 1/2. Teaching them as separate topics with unrelated rules is a common mistake and makes both harder. If a child is comfortable with the fraction wall, point out that 0.5, one half and five tenths are three names for one length.

Keep going

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The same idea as fractions

The fractions generator covers the other notation for exactly the same quantities.

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