Tagalog Numbers 1 to 10 for Kids
Numbers are the easiest Filipino words to practise, because you can count real things all day without setting aside any time at all.
Isa to sampu
| Tagalog | Number |
|---|---|
| isa | 1 |
| dalawa | 2 |
| tatlo | 3 |
| apat | 4 |
| lima | 5 |
| anim | 6 |
| pito | 7 |
| walo | 8 |
| siyam | 9 |
| sampu | 10 |
One thing worth knowing as a parent: everyday Filipino also borrows Spanish numbers for certain jobs — time, money and prices especially. Your child may hear singko or dyes in a shop or from a relative. That is normal, not a mistake. Start with the Tagalog set here; the borrowed ones come naturally from listening.
Game: count the real world
Choose one thing you already count every day and count it in Tagalog instead of English. Stairs are ideal — ten steps up, ten words. Others that work well:
- Plates and forks while setting the table.
- Grapes, crackers or carrot sticks on a snack plate.
- Socks coming out of the laundry, in pairs — isa, dalawa.
- Jumps, hops or star jumps in the garden.
- Toys being tidied away, counting down from sampu to isa.
Counting backwards is worth adding once forwards is easy. It forces your child to retrieve each word on its own rather than riding the rhythm of the sequence, which is where most children's counting actually breaks down.
Mini worksheet you can copy by hand
Fold a sheet of paper into ten boxes. In each box write one Tagalog number word. Your child draws that many of something they like — mangoes, cats, stars — inside the box. It takes about fifteen minutes and produces something worth sticking on the fridge.
Two easy variations once the first version is done:
- Match-up. Write the words in one column in a jumbled order and the digits 1–10 in another. Your child draws a line between each pair.
- Missing number. Write the sequence with three words left blank and ask your child to fill them in out loud before writing.
How long this usually takes
Most children aged five to ten can say all ten in order within a week of daily counting, and can answer them out of order after two or three weeks. Out of order is the real milestone, so mix up the questions — "Ilan ito?" (How many is this?) while holding up fingers — rather than only reciting from one to ten.