Powers of 10 for Kids: From 10 to a Billion with Numberblocks Generator

Ten, one hundred, one thousand. Each number is ten times the one before it. Once you see that pattern, a million is easier to read: it's a 1 followed by six zeros, or 10 multiplied by itself six times.

Keep a chart beside the Numberblocks Generator 1 to Infinity game. You can test smaller values in the player and use the chart for numbers too large to display comfortably.

What does “a power of 10” mean?

A power of 10 uses a certain number of tens as factors. In 10², the little 2 tells you to multiply two tens: 10 × 10 = 100. In 10³, it's three tens: 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000. That small raised number is the exponent.

Number	Name	Power of 10
10	ten	10¹
100	one hundred	10²
1,000	one thousand	10³
10,000	ten thousand	10⁴
100,000	one hundred thousand	10⁵
1,000,000	one million	10⁶
1,000,000,000	one billion	10⁹

There's a jump between a million and a billion: a billion is 1,000 millions. It has nine zeros, while a million has six. You can check the names and exponents in Maricopa Community Colleges' powers-of-ten table.

Make each step mean something

Write 10 on paper and ask what comes next if you multiply by ten. Check 100 in the game, then predict 1,000. Keep writing the sequence through 10,000 and 100,000; you don't have to load every number into the player.

At a million, switch from zeros to groups. A thousand groups of a thousand make a million. A thousand groups of a million make a billion. This is how Oak National Academy explains large place values, and it gives a child something more useful to think about than a long row of zeros.

Start the large-number player with 10, 100, and 1,000. If you can enter a larger value without slowing the game, try it. If not, keep going on paper. The pattern works at sizes no browser game could reasonably draw block by block.

Why “1 to Infinity” is a name, not a final number

The chart stops at a billion, but numbers don't. Add one to a billion and you have a bigger number; you can do the same to a trillion or a googol. “Infinity” in the game's name is about that open-ended idea. It isn't a value to type after the biggest number you know.

For a younger child, 10, 100, and 1,000 may be plenty for one session. When they can predict each next step, ask what would happen if they kept multiplying by ten. If you need help with the controls, use the Numberblocks Generator guide.