Farm Animal Subtraction Cards

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Farm animals are such a fun theme to do in Kindergarten! These Farm Animal Subtraction Cards would be perfect for a “farm week” or as a math review activity for the end of the year! All you need to do is laminate these cards and get out your dry erase markers.

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

Subtraction is always a tricky math concept to teach Kindergarteners. Once they learn addition, it is hard for them to get in that mindset to “take away”.

I always start out teaching subtraction with something they can physically take away, like crayons, or even the students themselves!

After they get the “physical” aspect of subtracting using manipulatives, we move onto “crossing out”.

This skill will help students understand how to write subtraction sentences. Your main goal is to teach your students the steps to writing subtraction sentences, so they do not end up trying to add or making a subtraction problem that does not make sense.

These subtraction cards are the perfect way to teach the subtraction steps.

I like to laminate them first and then use dry erase markers for re-use!

How to Use Subtraction Cards

The first step is to have the students count ALL of the animals on the card. They need to know how many animals are there to begin with.

I say, “Let’s count how many cows we see on the farm!” The students count how many cows there are and write that number down first.

The second step is to pose the problem of how many cows “ran away”. This helps students visualize that the cows are no longer there.

I say, “Uh-oh! Three cows ran away!” I cross off the cows as I count, “One, two, three.” Then I write the number “3” in the next spot. I explain that we need to write down how many cows ran away in order to solve the problem.

RELATED RESOURCE: Subtraction Centers & Activities

Next, I make sure to go over the subtraction sentence that we have so far. I use both terms “minus” and “take away”, so that the students understand that they mean the same thing.

I ask, “How many cows are left on the farm?” Then we count the cows that are left.

Once we have the answer, we write the number down and repeat the completed subtraction sentence. Your students can use the corresponding recording sheet to write down all of the subtraction sentences they make using the farm animal cards.

This activity would work well as a math center, early finisher task, or as a small group lesson. I hope your students find this subtraction game fun and engaging!