Addition with Clothes (Black & White) — Kindergarten

Adding and part-finding are braided together down this page so the same clothes get used two ways. One row hands the child a group of jumpers, scarves and a glove and a number to fold in for a total; the next hands over a whole with one part shown and asks for the piece that completes it, the way making ten works. Travelling between the two keeps both ideas warm at once — joining amounts and pulling a number apart into its pieces — and the small totals mean a kindergartner can always fall back on counting the pictures to be sure.

Finding the part that completes a total is the quiet beginning of seeing how adding and taking away are linked: the same three numbers — two parts and a whole — sit behind both. Kindergartners are not asked to name that link, only to feel it by working a total from its parts and back again, and the pictured clothes keep every step countable and concrete.

Children who like clothes (black & white) enjoy the change of pace from row to row, and it works well for a small group ready to think in more than one direction. When the numbers feel easy, count a fresh group in addition with household things, or try addition with christmas. You can also browse every addition worksheet or the whole clothes collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.