Subtraction with Kitchen Tools — Kindergarten

Each line gives the child a group of spoons, whisks and a pan 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 kitchen tools can always be checked by counting.

Crossing out is a small action with a big idea behind it: a quantity can be made smaller, and we can say exactly how much is left. Doing it with pictured kitchen tools keeps the idea concrete and self-checking, which is precisely what take-away subtraction should be at five and six — seen and done, not memorised.

Children who enjoy kitchen tools 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 everyday objects, or try subtraction with pets. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole kitchen tools collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.