Ordinal Numbers Teaching Resources

Explore ordinal numbers worksheets and more Aussie teacher-created activities for your maths lesson plans.

This collection of printable and digital teacher resources is stocked with options aligned with Australian maths curriculum standards. Best of all, each one has undergone a review process by the teachers of Teach Starter to ensure it's ready for your classroom and your students!

Need a refresher on ordinal numbers before introducing this number sense concept to your students? Read on for a primer from our experienced teacher team, including a way to explain what ordinal numbers are, real-world examples for kids and what makes these numbers different from cardinal numbers.

What Are Ordinal Numbers? A Kid-Friendly Definition

Wish you had a script handy to introduce any topic to your class for the first time? The Teach Starter site is full of definitions of common concepts that were made for teachers by our teacher team!

Here's how we explain what ordinal numbers are to our students:

Ordinal numbers are a type of number that tell us the position or order of something.

These numbers are represented by the numerals that you are already familiar like 1, 2 and so on, but they also include letters!

For example, when you add the letters 'st' to the number 1, you get 1st, which is an ordinal number that represents that someone or something is first in the order or sequence.

Here's a list of some of the most common ordinal numbers:

1. First — Represented in numeral and letter form as 1st
2. Second — Represented as 2nd
3. Third — Represented as 3rd
4. Fourth — Represented as 4th
5. Fifth — Represented as 5th
6. Sixth — Represented as 6th
7. Seventh — Represented as 7th
8. Eighth — Represented as 8th
9. Ninth — Represented as 9th
10. Tenth — Represented as 10th

Ordinal Number Examples for Kids

Your students are bound to have seen plenty of examples of ordinal numbers already in their lives — even if they didn't realise what they were seeing.

Here are some of our favourite examples of how to use ordinal numbers that can help kids start to see the real-world application of the concept:

• Describe the order in which runners finish in a race
• List the order in which students line up in the classroom before they leave for the library
• Rank your favourite foods in a specific order — from the foods you like the best to the foods you like the least

One of the most common examples of ordinal numbers in the real world describes the order of athletes who competed in a particular spot. 

Ordinal Numbers vs. Cardinal Numbers — What's the Difference?

When we teach our students about ordinals, it can be helpful to explain how these differ from what we call cardinal numbers. So, let's break it down!

Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers are a type of number used to represent quantity or count. They are represented in numeral form — e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on.

Cardinal numbers can be used to answer the question, 'How many?'

Ordinal Numbers

As described above, ordinal numbers are used when you need to specify which item comes first, second, third, etc., in relation to others.

These numbers are represented as a numeral in combination with specific letters.