An interactive MAB block manipulator widget.
Use the MAB Lab with your class to virtually manipulate MAB blocks on your interactive whiteboard or computer. Find totals, represent numbers and explore place value.
Simply drag the MAB blocks from the tray at the bottom of the screen and drop them into the work area. Remove a block by dragging it back into the tray. Clear the screen by tapping the red trash can button.
Live Count
The MAB Lab adds the values of the blocks and displays this on-screen. The live count can help students with addition and remembering the values associated with each type of block. Click the yellow show/hide button to toggle the live count’s visibility.
Place Value Mats
Work on a virtual place value mat by using the MAB Lab’s themes. Choose either the Tens, Hundreds or Thousands theme to provide a scaffold for your students when they are representing numbers. Note: Only relevant blocks will be shown when using themes.
Randomise Blocks
Use the manipulative’s randomiser function to add a random amount of blocks to the work area. With the live count hidden, have students sort these blocks into place value and determine the total value. They can then click the show count button to see if they are correct. The minimum and maximum values for the randomiser can be altered in the settings menu.
Related Resources
This widget can be used in conjunction with the following resources.
teaching resource
Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning about the place value of two-digit numbers.
teaching resource
Place Value Spin
A fun place value activity for students to use in the classroom when identifying the number of 'tens' and 'ones' in two-digit numbers.
teaching resource
3-Digit Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning about the place value of three-digit numbers.
Do you have place value up to the Billions?
Hi Megan, We don't currently have that for the MAB Lab but there may be some other resources that suit your needs in our Place Value collection at
Could you tell me please, is the MAB Lab Widget available / accessible for free or must I have a 'teachstarter' subscription to access it? I am asking because i'd like to point my students to it to use while they are 'learning from home'.
I was just going to ask the same question!
Hi David, unfortunately, this is only available to be accessed through a paid Teach Starter membership. Sorry about that!
The hundreds and thousands mab blocks do not work on my ipad
Hi Adrienne, We're sorry to hear you're having trouble. Please contact us at [email protected] and we'll help you work through the problem.
Hi I don't seem to be able to drag MAB to the template, Not sure if I'm doing something wrong?
Hi Kaz, We're sorry to hear you're having trouble. Please contact us at [email protected] and we'll help you work through the problem.
Hi, could the blocks be a size that fits in the template (theme)? The thousands block is very large.
suger rush hay
Hi Katina, The MAB Lab has been updated! We have reduced the size of the Thousands and Hundreds blocks when using a theme. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any additional feedback!
Hi Katrina, Thanks for your feedback. We appreciate any thoughts or ideas that will help make our resources better! We'll take a look at this and let you know when any changes have been made.