Addition with Vegetables — Kindergarten

Because the rows vary, the child cannot switch off. A row of carrots, peas and a pumpkin beside a written number is a straight add-to-the-total; the next row gives the whole and a part and asks for the part still needed to make it. Both are kindergarten work — putting amounts together, and seeing the smaller numbers hiding inside a bigger one — and keeping them side by side with pictured vegetables builds the flexible number sense early addition is really about.

Putting amounts together and breaking them back into parts are the two halves of early number sense, and meeting both on one page builds the flexibility kindergartners need. Finding the part that makes a total is the make-ten thinking behind so much later arithmetic, and pairing it with straightforward adding keeps the vegetables concrete while the ideas grow.

Children who like vegetables 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 vehicles, or try addition with household things. You can also browse every addition worksheet or the whole vegetables collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.