Subtraction with Farm Animals — Kindergarten

Here a child subtracts by doing, not by remembering. Each line lays out some cows, pigs and a goat; the task is to cross off the ones that go and count the ones still there. A row might start with a few and send one away, or start with more and cross several off, so the take-away looks different each time. Crossing out and counting the remainder is the most concrete form of subtraction there is, and it is exactly where five- and six-year-olds begin.

Modelling subtraction as physically removing some of a group is how the meaning lands before the symbol does. A child who crosses out farm animals 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 farm animals 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 flowers, or try subtraction with household things (black & white). You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole farm animals collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.