Find the Missing Number — Insects and Bugs — Grade 1

This sheet asks "how many were taken away?" Each row shows a starting group of ants, bees and a ladybug and how many remain; the blank is the amount that left. To find it, a child counts on from the result back up to the start, or thinks of the take-away that fits — the first taste of working a subtraction backward. The bugs keep it concrete, and the numbers stay within twenty, so every missing-number answer is something a Grade 1 child can confirm by counting what is shown.

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 bugs that remain to the group they started with.

Children who like insects and bugs 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 kitchen tools, or find the missing number with post office. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole bugs collection for grade 1 — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.