This subtraction as an unknown addend activity helps K through 2nd grade students solve subtraction within 20 by matching each fact to its addition fact card. Answer key included.
This decomposing a ten frame activity helps kindergarten to 2nd grade students match ten frames to facts that make 10, with a practice page and answer key included.
This missing number addition and subtraction activity has K-2nd grade students match watermelon equation cards to their answers within 10 and 20. Answer key included for fun, hands-on fact practice.
This missing number addition activity has children draw watermelon slices to find the unknown addend in 18 problems within 10. Made for kindergarten and 1st grade, with a practice page and answer key included.
This subtraction within 5 activity has kindergarten and 1st grade children solve peanut butter jar problems and match them to jelly jar answers. Answer key included.
Using Count Back Activity, students count back from one number to another number to solve the subtraction equations.
This single digit subtraction activity has kindergarten and 1st grade students draw apple number cards, subtract, and record each difference. Answer key included.
This subtraction in the garden subtraction activity lets kindergarten and 1st grade children plant, pick and count paper vegetables to solve take-away problems within 10. Answer key included.
Using Adding to Make 10 Activity, students match addition equation cards with missing addend cards to show equations that make 10.
This subtraction with 6-7-8-9 differences activity is a snowy card sort for kindergarten and 1st grade students. Solve each fact, sort it under its snowflake, and check with the answer key included.
In this Let's Go on a Trip Addition Subtraction Within 100 Activity, students add and subtract within 1000, using concrete models or drawings and strategies.
Using Pirate Addition to 12 Activity, students match addition equation cards with sum cards to build addition fact fluency skills.
Using Subtraction BINGO, students play BINGO to solve subtraction problems to 20 and build fact fluency.
This subtraction with 2-3-4-5 differences activity is a winter card sort for kindergarten and 1st grade. Children solve facts within 10, sort each card under its snowflake, and check with the answer key included.
Take away, count what's left
In kindergarten, subtraction means taking away. Kids start with real objects: five apples, eat two, how many are left? They act it out, draw it and finally write it: 5 − 2 = 3. By the end of the year most kindergarteners subtract within 5 quickly and within 10 with objects or fingers. They also solve simple story problems. The click moment is when a child realizes subtraction undoes addition: "3 and 2 make 5, so 5 take away 2 is 3!"
Kindergarten subtraction is all about real things disappearing. These moves make it visible.
Give kids five counters or snacks. Tell a story: "Five bunnies were in the garden. Two hopped away." Kids slide two away and count what's left. Acting out the story first makes the minus sign mean something.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withTaking Away to Subtract WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Kids draw five circles, then cross out two and count the rest. Drawing is the bridge from real objects to equations, and it's a strategy they can use on any test.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withSubtracting Using Pictures Assessment WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Put a number line on the floor. Kids start on 7 and hop back 3 spaces, saying each number. Their whole body learns that subtraction moves backward.
Why it works: in a well-known study, a few short sessions of a simple number board game measurably boosted young children's number skills (Ramani and Siegler, 2008).
Try it withCount Back ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Take-away games kindergarteners will beg to play again.
ActivitiesKids "eat" popcorn pieces off a bowl to solve take-away problems. Real popcorn makes it extra yummy.
Open Popcorn Mental Math Activity →
ActivitiesFrogs hop in and out of the pond. Kids add or subtract to figure out how many are left.
Open Add and Subtract with Frogs Activity →
ActivitiesFill a ten frame, then remove some counters and say the subtraction sentence out loud.
Open Decomposing a Ten Frame Activity →Teacher favorites right now: Subtraction as an Unknown Addend Activity, Decomposing a Ten Frame Activity and Missing Number Addition and Subtraction Activity.
Kindergarteners subtract within 10 using objects, drawings and fingers, and become fluent within 5. They also solve simple take-away story problems.
Start with real objects and simple stories. Let your child take some away and count what's left. Move to drawings, then to writing the equation once they understand the idea.
Yes. Fingers are a great tool at this age. As kids practice, they'll start to know small facts by heart.
Count snacks and eat a few, park toy cars and drive some away, or count stairs going down. Everyday take-away moments build number sense.
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