Subtracting Snacks
Here's What To Do
1
Put 10 small pieces of food (like cereal) on a plate and ask your child to count them.
2
Ask: "If we take away 3 pieces, how many will be left?" After your child answers, ask them to take away 3 snacks (optional: they can eat the snacks they take away!)
3
Ask your child to check their answer by counting the snacks left on the plate.
4
Repeat (start with an amount 1-10 and taking away different amounts).
Put PEER Into Action
P
Pause:
- Give each other a high five before you begin!
E
Engage:
- "Count how many snacks we're starting with."
- "We took away 3 snacks, can you count how many we have now?"
E
Encourage:
- Remind your child that their brain gets stronger when they're working on something tricky.
- Acknowledge their effort: "You're working so hard to practice subtraction."
R
Reflect:
- What part of this activity was challenging or easy?
Not quite ready?
Play this game with 5 pieces of food instead of 10.
Ready for more?
Play this game with up to 20 pieces of food.
As your child masters this skill...
They will be able to solve subtraction problems that start with a quantity of 10 or fewer.