Find the Missing Number — Vehicles — Grade 1

Each row gives a child the start and the finish and asks for the move between: a group of buses, trucks and a digger, the number still there, and a blank for how many left. Finding the missing number means connecting subtraction to its inverse — what taken from the group lands on the result. It is real Grade 1 reasoning, and the pictured vehicles plus within-twenty numbers keep it checkable by counting, so a child can verify the missing part instead of taking it on trust.

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 vehicles keep the strategy concrete rather than abstract.

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