Subtraction Games for Kids: Beyond “Take Some Away”

A child can take three counters away from eight and correctly announce “five,” yet hesitate when asked how much bigger eight is than three. The arithmetic is related. The question feels different.

Subtraction appears in stories about removing, comparing and finding a missing part. Home practice becomes more useful when it includes all three. The following games stay within twenty and give you something more informative than a score: a chance to see what your child thinks the numbers mean.

Choose a starting point

Begin within ten if your child needs to count each object. Move towards twenty when they can explain smaller examples comfortably. School year labels vary, so match the numbers and methods to current classroom work. You need twenty counters, a cup, paper and a pencil.

1. The disappearing collection

Place eight counters on the table. Your child counts them, then closes their eyes while you remove three. Reveal the five remaining counters and ask how many disappeared. They can rebuild the original collection to check.

1. Choose a starting total from 5 to 10 and say it aloud.
2. Remove any number from zero to the whole collection.
3. Find the missing amount and write an equation.
4. Swap roles after each turn; finish after six turns altogether.

For this example, 8 − 3 = 5 records what happened, while 8 − 5 = 3 finds the missing amount from what remains. Explain which question each equation answers. Removing none and removing all are useful turns too: 8 − 0 = 8 and 8 − 8 = 0.

2. How many more?

Draw two pretend shop shelves. Put nine counters on one and six on the other. Ask how many extra counters the fuller shelf has. Pair counters across the shelves; the three without partners show the difference, 9 − 6 = 3.

Take turns choosing two amounts within ten. One player builds the shelves; the other finds the difference. Complete four comparisons. The goal is agreement, not speed. If your child adds the shelves together, ask, “Are we finding everything in the shop, or just the extras on this shelf?” Then point to the unmatched objects.

3. The number-line detective

Draw equally spaced marks labelled 0 to 20. Choose 13 − 9. Start at nine and count the jumps needed to reach thirteen: four jumps. Check by starting at thirteen and making nine backward jumps; you arrive at four.

Each player invents three problems with the larger number first. The other draws the jumps and labels the answer. Keep the line visible throughout. For 13 − 9, a more compact route is 9 → 10 → 13: one jump plus three gives a difference of four.

A common slip is counting the starting mark as a jump. Model 9 → 10 as one step, then let your child mark each space crossed. The IES elementary intervention guide recommends number lines and carefully chosen representations; these home rules are our suggested application.

4. Fill the empty seat

Tell a short story: “There are twelve seats. Seven people are sitting down. How many seats are empty?” Draw twelve circles, mark seven occupied and count five empty. Write 12 − 7 = 5, then 7 + 5 = 12.

Change the story on each turn: ten apples with four sold, or fifteen tickets with nine used. Let your child invent the third story. Finish after three stories and check every answer with a picture. Avoid adding extra numbers until the child can identify the whole and its two parts.

When a correct answer still needs a question

Ask, “What does the five mean?” It might mean counters remaining, counters removed or empty seats. Naming the answer connects the calculation to the situation. If an explanation is hard, offer a choice: “Five seats altogether, or five empty seats?”

Research on concrete manipulatives gives a reason to connect objects with equations. It does not validate this four-game sequence or prescribe a pace for every child. Keep the objects available while they help, and return to smaller numbers when the explanation breaks down.

For missing-part practice, use number bonds to ten. For another way to generate small subtraction problems, try dice games. If homework remains consistently difficult, take a few specific examples to the teacher so you can compare methods and choose the next step together.