Linking Subtraction with Addition


Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

Our recently released Math Pack 30 - Subtraction Problems includes 5 engaging activities for students to be immersed in early subtraction. 

Subtraction Skills

2 aspects of subtraction students need a lot of practice in are 
  • understanding how a subtraction situation can be written and solved
  • relating subtraction to addition 
This pack provides 2 activities for these skills.

In our activities little learners will talk about subtraction situations. They will identify and describe what is known - the total, and what is unknown - part of the total. They also begin to work with fact families to make the link between addition and subtraction. 

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

In and Out Subtraction Fun

In this write-n-wipe style activity, students will create a verbal story to match a situation. 

For example:
There are 7 fish, 3 jump out of the water and 4 are left in the water.
Alternatively, they might say:
There are 7 fish, 4 are in the water and 3 are jumping out.
Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

Students record these observations as math sentences. They will be interpreting each number as a total or part. They will also become very confident in an awareness of two different number sentences for every subtraction problem. 

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

As an alternative to write-n-wipe, students can use the cards as task cards and record answers on the included worksheet instead. 

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

Related addition and subtraction facts

The activity called 'Inside Outside' reinforces all of these aspects of subtraction as well, but we step it up a notch by having students also relate each subtraction situation to addition.

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

For example, here they might say:

There are 7 in the family. When three are outside, there are 4 left inside. 

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

Once again, number sentences may be recored on the worksheet or directly onto a laminated card. 

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

Subtraction and Addition Related Facts

I absolutely love bringing you fun and engaging ways to build the mathematical understanding and skills of your students. Our Math Packs provide you with 5 activities. Use one each day of the week, or for each of a series of 5 sequenced lessons to cover a skill area. 

We would love to see how you like using our Math Pack games on social media - tag us so we can love on your post! 

Addition Games

Addition Games

We are taking a slight detour on our current focus on subtraction to let you know that we have just listed a new pack of addition games to help students become familiar with addition facts.

These 5 games will help your sweet friends practice single digit addition, with fluency, from 0+1 to 9+9.

Students begin fact fluency memorization when they have mastered strategies for addition.

These games are brightly colored for engagment, require no cutting - print, laminate if desired and you are good to go!

The 5 included addition games are:

2 Dice Add it 

Here, students roll 2 dice and learn to find the total quickly. A recording worksheet is included.

Addition Games

Addition Bubble 

Students roll two 9 sided dice, find the total and compare the number with their partner, finding the bigger number. Add a gumball to the game mat if your number is the biggest!

Addition Games

Addition Games

A recording page is also included.

Addition Games

Domino Dash

Students flip a domino, add both sides to find the total. Use double 6 dominos or double 9 dominos.

Addition Games

Addition Games

Fact Find

In this game, students spin a total and find an addition fact to match on the game board.
Addition Games

Add the Rainbow 

Students spin and add on to find the total. Spins can be recorded on the worksheet that is included. 
+1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7, +8 and +9 versions are provided.

Addition Games

Addition Games

Each game set includes:
  • game boards
  • printable spinner
  • a follow-up or recording worksheet
  • a cover page, to help you get your resources organised
Find this new pack of ours over on TpT!


Addition Facts Poster Freebie

We would also love to share this handy printable poster with you. Students can refer to it as they learn to memorize the addition facts! A blackline version is included too. 

Find it in Google drive: Addition Facts Poster!

Summarizing Comprehension Strategy

The Snow Wombat

The Snow Wombat by Susannah Chambers is a lovely short, rhyming text that tells of wombat's big journey through the snow in the Australian Alps.

The Alps are the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually and this text presents a lovely way of opening our students' curiosity to the animals, birds and people of this special area.

The story is essentially a tribute to the awareness that there is 'no place like home'.

The beautiful illustrations by Mark Jackson include a variety of Australian animals, plants and trees that can survive the freezing temperatures.  Although bitterly cold, the illustrations depict a vibrant, happy and delightful place. Perhaps it is those big bright blue skies, or wombat's cheeky playfulness, perfectly captured.

The Snow Wombat

The book includes a map drawn on the end pages. This map connects visually with the animals that wombat passes along his journey. There is a link from story, animal, map and names of places. It is subtle but a deep connection which presents you with the opportunity to introduce the comprehension strategy of summarizing to your students.

To summarize 

A text summary, or short retelling, helps children make personal meaning with a story.

Not just a straightforward retelling, a summary includes only the important main ideas and show how they are connected.

After the read, use the map on the inside cover as a visual summary of the text. Talk about wombat's journey.

Ask your students:

  • Who or what is this about? 
  • What happened in the story? 
  • When, where and how did the action happen? 
  • Where are the main ideas in the text? 
  • What was the most memorable part of the text? Why? 
A good story summary structure is the somebody-wanted-but-so-then idea. Use these key words to draw out the main ideas and develop a summary.

Summarizing Reading Comprehension Strategy

It could be:

Wombat wanted to sleep but it was too cold and snowy at The Stockman's Hut so he walked home past many animals and then he was warm, safe and happy. 

Ask students to draw or write their own using this worksheet. This worksheet can be used for any wombat or animal themed story.

We would love to provide this poster and worksheet to you, and have made it in two versions depending on how you spell summarizing. Find them both here:


Summarizing Reading Comprehension Strategy

Wombat Screen Wallpaper


We had a request for a wombat screen wallpaper and I was so excited to get started on this design. Wombats one of the most endearing of all Australian animals. They are true characters.

I'd love to share this fun new design with you, to make your home and classroom electronic boards, iPads, computers and phones happy and bright this week.



Simply download the images from google drive from the links below. Store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

Find the Computer Screensaver HERE
and the Phone Screensaver HERE

{These are for your personal use only and cannot be redistributed or shared}

Coordinating Printables

We've also added a wombat coloring page to the Coloring Club! I have a book called The Snow Wombat to show you later in the week here on the blog. This coloring page would be a lovely accompaniment.



The wombat wallpaper design, in print quality has been added to the 'Banner and Paper' pack. This pack allows you to coordinate your home office or classroom elements with printable papers, folder covers and banner pennants.


Do you love decorating your teacher desk space?
Find more posts and goodies for your 'teacher space' HERE
Find more screen wallpapers HERE
Thank you so much for visiting us here on the blog. Have a beautiful, happy week.

Snowman Subtraction


We've provided you with everything you need to get a week of engaging math fun underway in your learning space, for subtraction.

Math Pack 30 will help your little ones learn to solve subtraction problems. Subtraction is usually classified into 3 types: take away, missing addend and difference. This pack will support your lessons on take away.

How to play Snow Buttons

Students each have a mat and take a small scoop of buttons. Here they can estimate the number of buttons their snowman has and count to check. 

Next, they roll a die to determine the number of buttons their snowman will lose. 


The buttons are removed, the new total found and the subtraction problem recorded. 


Before using this activity in your learning program, be sure you have introduced the concept of 'take away' to your learners. The take away symbol and equals sign will also need to be introduced and formal written subtraction explained. 

Subtraction vocabulary

Model and encourage the use of the words: subtract, subtraction, take away, subtraction fact, equals, is equal to, fact family, number sentence or subtraction sentence.  


Snow Buttons is available in our TpT store individually as well as in Math Pack 30.  Our math packs provide you with a sequence of 5 activities, meaning each builds upon the skills in the previous game. You can introduce one game each day of your teaching week!


We will share, in more detail another activity from this pack next week.


While you are here, we would love to provide you with a free bonus worksheet for subtraction! Perfect for review or assessment, students will look at the buttons crossed off each snowman and write a subtraction sentence for each.



As well as using the worksheet, ask your students to model each problem using counters. 


This worksheet is ready for download here in google drive: Subtraction Snowman Worksheet


Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, we will see you later in the week with some more ideas for subtraction.

Place Value Activity Cards


With the release of Math Pack 29 recently, we have enjoyed bringing you some ideas and resources for teaching place value. Particularly 2 digit place value.

Presenting and engaging with place value in many different ways is a great way to reinforce a solid foundation for understanding numbers. Being able to first manipulate materials and then represent them pictorially and numerically is so powerful for our learners. 

I have found that approaching math with the same basic lesson structure, whether it be whole group, small group or 1:1 with students works beautifully. This structure can unfold in one sitting, or be spread out over days, depending on how your curriculum content is laid out.

It is:

  1. model - here we see hands-on equipment, demonstrating the action, linking to past learning and real world
  2. picture - here we see a visual representation of that action - it could be in a book, on an animation, with game cards, or students drawing themselves on whiteboards or paper. Pictures can also be symbols.
  3. writing/recording - here we see the picture stage broken down further into written symbols (words or numbers) and the formal process of recording our thinking in math

Time and time again this structure has worked for me - it can be applied to any lesson or activity you are teaching. It reflects perfectly the lesson formats of:

  1. whole group
  2. small group
  3. independent 
or 
  1. I do
  2. We do
  3. You do

Let's look at one of our 2 digit place value activities with this structure in mind.

Show Me the Number provides you with activity cards showing numbers and a visual representation of partitioned tens and ones for students to break the number down.

Model 2 Digit Place Value

Project the pdf file up on the board and have students model the numbers with equipment. If using in guided math, ask students to model each number with blocks at the table.

Creating Pictures to Represent 2 Digit Place Value

Using the cards as write-n-wipe cards, your students are creating a visual representation of each number. Here they color the pictures to show how each number is partitioned. You could also ask them to draw using sticks and squares on a whiteboard.

Here, ask your little learners to check their work with a friend. The checking is important so they are also using the pictures to read the numbers back.

Asking them to come back to read the number they’ve made in tens and ones format, will reinforce their growing ability to unitize.

Writing numbers 

Students can record their cards onto their worksheet, and link their experiences of the numbers with equipment to written symbols. 


Following this process, for this and any of our other printable math games is a simple way for you to create a whole lesson from one resources and is a pedagogically sound method for supporting students in their jump from concrete to abstract.

If your students have moved on to 3 digit place value, our Show Me the Number cards are also available for big numbers!

Place Value Craft

Students love mathtivities after all the hard math thinking is done! We just made one for place value - The Place Value Pool!

Craft in the Classroom?!

Absolutely! In good balance with solid teaching and learning, though. A paper craft can provide an opportunity for students to process, in a different way, a concept they have explored. I have found that a craft provides an essential component of downtime where learners can sit, think and process as they cut and assemble. Think about when you are learning something new. Often in the input and exploration stage you are taking in a lot of information and the mind swirls. It is later, when you are doing something quite structured or familiar with clear steps, that your mind wonders, opens, expands and concepts become clearer. Craft is just one of many creative experiences that might provide this processing time for your students.


And while we're here talking about place value, take a look at this amazing book. We saw it on Instagram, shared by a classroom teacher. It has so many valuable explanations for kids on the concepts surrounding place value. 


You can find it through our Amazon affiliate link, here: Place Value by David Adler and Edward Miller. 

And don’t forget to pop back through our previous posts on place value or on TPT HERE.

Rainbow Coloring Page

Rainbow coloring Page


On the weekend I spent some time doing free creative art with my children. We gave some new 'watercolor crayons' a try and to start just did some big bold lines to explore the new pens. A rainbow developed of course, amongst other things. This is how one of our projects turned out. The color from the watercolor crayons was luscious to say the least. We are now obsessed with them!

I took a bit of time to make a similar coloring page - for you! Did you know we have a Coloring Club? It is a simple way for me to share these pages with you. Just sign up and you're in. By signing up you will also be added to our email newsletter. Part of the newsletter (they come out every other week) includes an update on the products I have for sale. Just mentioning this so you have the full nitty gritty.

If you don't want to be on the email newsletter, it is super easy to unsubscribe!


It is free to join the club if you have not already done so, sign up today and get this lovely rainbow page and all the past and future pages I will make! Yippee! 

Snowman Directed Drawing

Ahhhh snowmen - so, so cute! The adorable big round cutie oozes happiness, joy and playfulness - no wonder we love him!
snowman directed drawing


I would love to share the steps we took to draw some snowman recently. We drew them in a black marker, painted them in watercolor and loved how they turned out!

Please know that we have a huge range of easy-prep directed drawings packets over in our TpT store if you need support fast - just print and go! 

Find the winter packet HERE

drawing projects for kids

Let's draw a snowman


  • start with a big circle

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids

  • draw his body by first making a small curved line, and then straight down

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids

  • draw the same on the other side

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids

  • draw a line for the ground across the bottom of the page

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids

  • draw a slanted line across the head for his hat

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids

  • draw a pom pom circle on top of his hat and some stripes on his hat

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids
  • draw a triangle carrot nose, two eyes and a mouth on his face

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids
  • draw some buttons on his body

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids
  • draw some stick arms

Snowman Winter Art Project For Kids
  • now paint with watercolors


snowman art project

Snowman Directed Drawing

Snowman Drawing

Winter Art Activities











































We do hope you get a chance to do some snowman drawings too.

If you would like a printable version of the steps and some writing pages to accompany your art project, head over to our TPT store to find them!

snowman art project for kids