Love Monster Subtraction within 10 Cards

While we work on subtraction skills as we are building up our number sense, it can sometimes be a little trickier for kids to grasp than learning addition. So I am always on the lookout for ways to make it hands-on, engaging, and fun for my students as they practice and develop their understanding. These free Love Monster Subtraction within 10 Cards have been a hit in our math centers for some Valentine’s Day-themed fun!

*Pair with our Subtraction Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!

Love Monster Subtraction Within 10 Cards

After laminating and cutting apart these monster cards (with the not-so-scary love monsters) I added in some fun heart beads that I got from the Target dollar spot.

If you don’t have heart beads, any small manipulative like mini erasers or buttons will work great for this activity! We even like to use play dough sometimes to model our subtraction equations.

We like to use play dough to model our equations on the subtraction cards.

RELATED RESOURCE: Word Problems for Kindergarten – February Edition

How to Play

We have been working with subtraction equations a lot. The kids know that when we start, the first number tells us how many we begin with.

So, if the problem is 9-6, we begin with 9 manipulatives in the ten frame. We place them on from left to right.

Then we remove 6 manipulatives to show that 6 were taken away. We now have 3 remaining so we know that 9-6=3!

We then pulled another card to work on, using the manipulatives to help us solve the next problem, 4-2.

Buttons also work great for filling the ten frames to model the subtraction equations.

On it went until the round of math workshop was over and it was time to clean up. My students had a blast practicing subtraction with these Love Monster Cards!

Grab Your FREE Copy

Ready to work on subtraction within 10? Get your free set of Love Monster Subtraction Cards by clicking the large, yellow download button at the end of the post!

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Alex

Alex is a Transitional Kindergarten teacher with a passion for making learning fun and engaging. She's earned a Bachelors degree in Elementary Education, and Masters Degrees in Special Education and Curriculum Design. Alex is a former night owl turned early bird and playful learning enthusiast. Alex lives with her husband and their beloved and high-energy cat, Fitz.