Find the Missing Number — Valentine Pictures (Black & White) — Grade 1

This sheet asks "how many were taken away?" Each row shows a starting group of hearts, roses and a card 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 valentine pictures 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.

Asking for the taken-away amount rather than the result keeps a child from running a page on autopilot — each row needs real thought about the missing middle. That is precisely why change-unknown problems matter at Grade 1, and why keeping them within twenty is important: the thinking is the work, so the numbers stay small enough to verify by counting the valentine pictures.

Children who like valentine pictures (black & white) 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 vegetables, or find the missing number with household things. You can also browse every subtraction worksheet or the whole valentine pictures collection for grade 1 — each sheet prints cleanly in black and white or plays online for free.