Subtraction Buddies

It's that time of year again - addition and subtraction! This year, my Kindergarteners made Subtraction Buddies to help us take things away. They had a blast! They designed their own buddies and named them. The next day, I let them choose a table with the manipulatives they wanted to work with (dinosaurs, bears, various different counters) and they worked out their subtraction problems by having their Subtraction Buddies eat the manipulatives. It was a great visual for the students to physically see things being taken away and they had fun working!

I gave them each a paper bag and set out construction paper, googly eyes, and yarn and let them go at it. Here are some examples:

Here is the sheet they used to record down their answers. 

You can grab the PDF version here and the Word version here.

Hope this helps your kiddos better understand this concept!

• Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com