Early MathPicture subtraction within 5
Name: Date:
Some are crossed out. Count the ones that are left.
1 =
2 =
3 =
4 =
5 =
6 =
7 =
8 =
Subtracting within 5 worksheets
Taking away from five or fewer, with the pictures still there to cross out. It is the other half of the first fact family a child learns, and it starts the same way addition did.
If they get stuck
Subtracting within 5
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
Subtraction within five is a shorter list than it looks: with nothing above five there are ten of them, and they are the mirror of the ten additions on the companion sheet. A child who knows 3 + 2 is halfway to knowing 5 − 2, and printing both is how that connection gets made.
Why this sheet works
The pictures are crossed out rather than erased. What is taken away stays visible, so “five take away two” leaves three standing next to two crossed out — the child can see both the answer and the amount removed, which a bare numeral cannot show.
How this one works
5 − 3
•••••
•• ✗✗✗
•• ✗✗✗
5 − 3 =2
- Start with all 5 and take 3 away — cross them off one at a time, and what is LEFT is the answer, not what you crossed.
- 3 crossed off leaves 2 standing.
- 5 − 3 = 2. Counting back from 5 gets there too, and is quicker once the numbers are too big to draw.