Subtraction with Trees — Kindergarten

Take a small pile of oaks, pines and a palm, cross some away, count what's left — that is the whole of this kindergarten sheet, repeated with a fresh picture each row. The child does the subtracting with a pencil stroke, removing the trees that go and counting the remainder. Doing it by hand keeps the idea concrete: subtraction is what happens when some of a group is taken away, and the leftover is the answer.

Taking a few away and counting what is left is the most concrete form of subtraction there is, and it is exactly where five- and six-year-olds begin. Modelling the take-away with pictures the child can cross out keeps the meaning — fewer than we started with — front and centre, well within ten so every answer can be checked by counting.

Children who enjoy trees 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 valentine pictures (black & white), or try subtraction with animals. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole trees collection for kindergarten — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.