Addition with Forest Creatures — Kindergarten

Two questions take turns down this sheet. One row asks how many foxes, deer and a hedgehog there are altogether when a group is joined to a written number; the next shows the whole and one part, and asks what the other part must be to make it. Counting up to a total and breaking a total back into parts are two sides of the same understanding, and meeting both with the same pictured forest creatures helps five- and six-year-olds see how they fit together.

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 forest creatures keep every step countable and concrete.

Children who like forest creatures 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 fruits, or try addition with kitchen tools. You can also browse every addition worksheet or the whole forest creatures collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.