Subtraction with Household Things — Kindergarten

Each line gives the child a group of lamps, chairs and a clock and some to take away by crossing out. They mark the ones that leave, then count the ones remaining to find how many are left. Doing the take-away with their own hand — rather than reading a minus sign — is how subtraction first makes sense at five and six, and keeping the groups small means the leftover household things can always be checked by counting.

Modelling subtraction as physically removing some of a group is how the meaning lands before the symbol does. A child who crosses out household things and counts the rest is subtracting in the truest sense, and because the amounts stay small, the leftover group can always be counted one by one to be sure.

Children who enjoy household things take to crossing out quickly, and it works as a calm hands-on task or a whole-class action on the board. When this feels easy, take some away in subtraction with supermarket things, or try subtraction with camping gear. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole household things collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.