Addition with Dinosaurs — Kindergarten

This kindergarten sheet asks the child to add a group they can see to a number they can read. They count the a T. rex, a stegosaurus and a raptor in the picture, then count on that many more as the written number tells them, and write the total in the box. Half picture and half symbol, it is the natural step after counting two pictured groups — the child still counts to find the answer, but now one of the two amounts arrives as a numeral instead of a set of dinosaurs.

Reading one addend as a numeral while counting the other as pictures keeps addition meaningful without keeping it purely pictorial forever. It is the gentlest introduction to written numbers in sums — the dinosaurs stay countable, the totals stay small, and the child learns that the figure on the page names the same amount they would have counted out by hand.

Children who like dinosaurs settle into this quickly, and it suits a calm independent task or a counting game on the board. When the numbers feel easy, count a fresh group in addition with easter, or try addition with furniture. You can also browse every addition worksheet or the whole dinosaurs collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.