Find the Missing Number — Household Things — Grade 1

Here a child meets the missing-number form of subtraction: a group of lamps, chairs and a clock, the amount remaining, and a blank for how many were removed. Solving it means counting up from what's left to the start, or finding the take-away that fits — reasoning about subtraction rather than just performing it. The pictured household things and the within-twenty range keep the thinking concrete and self-checkable, so a Grade 1 child can confirm the missing number by counting whenever they are unsure.

Change-unknown subtraction is harder than plain take-away precisely because the answer is the move, not the result — and that extra reasoning is the Grade 1 point. Keeping the numbers within twenty lets a child meet that challenge with strategies they have, counting up from the household things that remain to the group they started with.

Children who like household things take to the puzzle of working backward, and it suits a child ready for a little more than plain take-away. When this feels easy, try find the missing number with supermarket things, or find the missing number with camping gear. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole household things collection for grade 1 — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.