Subtraction Games for Kids

How to Learn Subtraction Facts

To learn the subtraction facts, move from counting to knowing: count back for small steps, then think of the addition fact that fits, and use 10 as a stop on the way down for facts over 10. Bigger numbers use the same facts, taken away as tens and ones. Practice a little most days until the answers come from memory.

1. Take away and count back

Subtraction starts with real things: put out 8 toys, take 3 away, and count what is left. Counting back does the same in the head: for 8 − 3, start at 8 and say three numbers down, 7, 6, 5. Counting back is quick for taking away 1, 2 or 3, and slow for bigger numbers, which is why the next step matters.

2. Think addition

Every subtraction fact is an addition fact turned around. For 9 − 7, ask “7 plus what makes 9?”: 2. For 15 − 8, ask “8 plus what makes 15?”: 7. Common Core standard 1.OA.B.4 teaches subtraction exactly this way, as an unknown addend. The more addition facts your child knows, the fewer subtraction facts are left to learn, so practice both in our addition games.

3. Use the pairs to 10

The pairs that make 10, like 7 and 3, give the facts from 10 at once: 10 − 3 = 7 and 10 − 7 = 3. Our number bonds games practice these pairs with a missing number, like 7 + ? = 10.

4. Go down to 10 first

For facts over 10, use 10 as a stop on the way. In 13 − 5, take 3 to get to 10, then the 2 that are left: 13 − 3 = 10, and 10 − 2 = 8. Doubles help too: 16 − 8 = 8 because 8 + 8 = 16. Practice all 190 facts up to 20 in our subtraction within 20 games.

5. Take tens from tens and ones from ones

Bigger numbers are the same facts, taken away by place. For 76 − 24, take the tens, 70 − 20 = 50, then the ones, 6 − 4 = 2: the answer is 52. When there are not enough ones, as in 52 − 28, regroup: break 1 ten into 10 ones, so 5 tens and 2 ones become 4 tens and 12 ones. Then 12 − 8 = 4 and 4 tens − 2 tens = 2 tens, so 52 − 28 = 24. Practice these problems on the 2-digit subtraction games.

Common mistakes

• Counting the start number. A child who finds 8 − 3 by saying 8, 7, 6 gets 6 instead of 5. Show them that the first number to say is one below the start: 7, 6, 5.
• Taking the smaller digit from the bigger one. In 52 − 28, 2 − 8 does not work, so some children do 8 − 2 instead and get 36. The ones need regrouping, not swapping.
• Forgetting the ten that was broken. After regrouping, the tens place has one ten fewer. Leaving it at 5 gives 52 − 28 = 34 instead of 24. To check any answer, add it back: 24 + 28 = 52.

The online games on this page put both slips among the answers: in 52 − 28, your child sees 36 and 34 next to 24 and learns to tell them apart.

For early number ideas to try at home, see our number sense activities and our guide to what math a 5 year old should know, and to see why your child's class uses these methods, read what is new math.

What Grade Learns Subtraction?

In the US, children learn subtraction from kindergarten to 3rd grade, usually at ages 5-9. Each year builds on the facts from the year before:

• Kindergarten: take away within 10 with objects and drawings (K.OA.A.2) and subtract fluently within 5 (K.OA.A.5).
• 1st grade: subtract within 20 with strategies like counting back, making ten and thinking addition, fluently within 10 (1.OA.C.6), understand subtraction as an unknown-addend problem (1.OA.B.4) and subtract multiples of 10 (1.NBT.C.6).
• 2nd grade: subtract fluently within 20 (2.OA.B.2) and within 100 (2.NBT.B.5), and subtract within 1000 with models and strategies (2.NBT.B.7).
• 3rd grade: subtract fluently within 1000 (3.NBT.A.2).

In England, children recall number bonds up to 5, including subtraction facts, by the end of Reception. In Year 1 they use number bonds and related subtraction facts within 20, in Year 2 they recall subtraction facts to 20 fluently and subtract two-digit numbers, and in Year 3 they subtract numbers with up to three digits using columnar subtraction.

Age

5-9

US grade

K-3

Standard

Common Core 1.OA.C.6, 2.NBT.B.5

England

Reception-Year 3