First Subtraction Worksheets

Here's a mixed set of story sums to help children practise addition and subtraction within 20 - and put the use of maths into an everyday context.

Use this "bear fact families" blank to work on any fact families with the kids. Write three numbers on the tulips and then ask the children to write the 4 number sentences that make up the fact family on the bear's tummy.

Practise addition and subtractionn with 50 with these 2 pages of mixed problems - perfect for summer or a minibeast topic, or just a fun way to perk up maths practise at anytime.

These fun double-sided cards have been designed to help children understand subtraction by crossing out with some hands-on practice.

Count the spots on the neck, tail and back of the dinosaur, then use the results to write the 4 fact family number sentences. There's nothing like a friendly dinosaur to help with some maths! There are 8 worksheets in this pack, featuring the following fact families:

These simple worksheets provide 3 numbers and ask the children to write out 2 addition facts and 2 subtraction facts for each set - in other words, the fact family. There are 4 worksheets in total, available in UK and US school fonts.

The fourth of our cute fill in the heart worksheets is on subtraction. Children need to use the numbers on the bear's heart to complete the sums.

Simple subtraction (1 to 5) with a football shirt or T-shirt theme!

You can print this "make a fact family" mat onto white or coloured paper and laminate it for repeat use with dry wipe markers if you wish. Write 3 numbers on the children's T-shirts and then ask the children to write out the fact family in the spaces below.

There are 20 different fact family mats in this pdf file, so pick the ones you want to work on and print them out onto white or coloured card. We've written the 3 numbers for the fact family on the children's T-shirts. Now your kids need to write the fact families in the space below.

Children can draw more spots onto the snakes to work out the answer to each problem, or solve them with subtraction within 20.

Help Fred with his number bond subtraction sums on this simple worksheet, which drills number bonds up to 5.

We've provided a number line and a cheerful helper on each of these two worksheets, which give children practice at counting back to solve subtraction problems (with numbers less than 10).

Here are two more worksheets to give children practice at subtracting within 20 using the counting back method. We've included an extra problem for them to think about too.

This set of 4 worksheets takes the kids through a number of simple subtraction sums with various pictorial methods of "crossing out" to get the answer. Fun!

Here are two more worksheets giving children plenty of practice at using subtraction by crossing out within 20. On each worksheet we have done the first problem for them to show them how, and provide 9 more for them to do themselves.

These worksheets are a fun way to make sure that children understand the "story" behind subtraction and see the connection to the number bonds they have already learned. There are 4 in total.

The "munching method" of subtraction is perfect for when sums bridge the 10 - for example, 16 - 8 = 8. This can be very tricky for children to grasp, but of course it is a skill which they will be called on to use often in adult life.

These story sum cards ask children to work out simple addition and subtraction problems (within 10) - all with an ice-cream and cupcake theme!

Practising subtraction to 10 is fun with this set of 5 cut and paste train worksheets, which ask the children to do the calculation then put the carriages into order.