Find the Missing Number — Things That Fly — Grade 1

This is subtraction with the taken-away part left blank. A group of kites, planes and a balloon is shown with the number remaining; the child supplies how many were removed. It nudges a child past one-direction take-away toward seeing subtraction as a relationship — start, change, result — where any one can be the unknown. The flying things are concrete and the numbers within twenty, so the missing part is always reachable by counting, and a child can prove their answer rather than guess it.

The missing-number form rehearses inverse thinking: if a group became this many, what was removed? A Grade 1 child answers by counting up or by knowing the take-away that fits, both of which strengthen the link between adding and subtracting. Within-twenty amounts and pictured flying things keep the strategy concrete rather than abstract.

Children who like things that fly 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 tools, or find the missing number with zoo animals. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole flying things collection for grade 1 — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.