Subtraction Teaching Resources
Browse subtraction worksheets, games and more teacher-created activities for your lesson plans!
Aligned with the Australian maths curriculum, including version 9.0, each resource in this subtraction collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our expert teachers to ensure it's ready to use with your students!
Browse printables and digital activities for teaching students how to take away, use subtraction to compare quantities, subtract two-digit numbers with regrouping, solve word problems and so much more!
Whether you're teaching your year 1 class to add and subtract within 20 or your year 3 students how to fluently subtract within 1,000, or you're explaining to a year 6 group how to add or subtract integers on a number line, there are plenty of options for your planning.
New to teaching subtraction, or just looking for new ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a kid-friendly definition to explain what it means to subtract, plus a look at the subtraction sign and more maths vocabulary that will help you plan your lessons.
What Is Subtraction? A Kid-Friendly Definition
If you're teaching early years students and introducing subtraction for the very first time, you may need a definition that can help you explain what it means to subtract numbers.
Subtraction is a maths operation we can use when we have a number and we want to find out what's left when we take away another number.
For example, let's imagine you have 5 toys, and your friend takes 2 of them home. How can you determine how many toys are left? You can use subtraction!
If you subtract 2 from the number 5, you are left with 3.
What Is the Subtraction Sign Called?
There are several maths symbols and signs that help us understand the relationships between numbers in our maths problems. Students should learn early on to identify the subtraction symbol, which is called the minus sign.
The minus sign (-) looks like a short line.
When it is placed between two numbers, it lets us know that we should subtract the number on the right from the number on the left.
For example, look at the subtraction problem below:
- 6-3
In this problem, the minus sign tells us that you will need to subtract — or take away — 3 from the number 6.
What Is the Answer to a Subtraction Problem Called?
Teaching maths in primary school involves teaching a significant amount of maths vocabulary!
When it comes to subtraction, one word kids need to learn early on is 'difference' — this is the word we use for the answer to a subtraction problem.
What Are the Numbers Called in Subtraction?
Words like subtraction, difference and minus are commonly used in the classroom, but what about the numbers in a subtraction problem?
These are not typically taught to students, but it can be helpful to keep the names of the numbers in a subtraction problem in your back pocket anyway!
- Minuend — This is the number on the left in a subtraction problem. It is the number that you are 'taking away' from.
- Subtrahend — This is the number on the right in a subtraction problem. It is the number that you are 'taking away.'
Teaching Kids How to Subtract — 3 Fun Ideas From Our Teacher Team
Looking for some tips on teaching subtraction? This collection of resources is full of ideas from our expert maths teachers, but we didn't stop there.
Here are some tips that may help you teach kids how to subtract and build their fluency!
1. Focus on Missing Addends
Missing addend addition is sometimes easier for kids to grasp when tackling subtraction problems.
For example, rather than 17 - 8, gear your students to think, '8 plus what equals 17?'
2. Teach Regrouping With Base-10 Blocks
Students need to understand they aren't changing the value of the minuend in the subtraction problem, just what it looks like. For example, 42 is still 42, even if it's represented as 30 + 12 instead of 40 + 2.
This is where it helps to teach the concept of regrouping using Base-10 or MAB blocks.
3. Use Subtraction Rhymes
Using fun rhymes as mnemonics in subtraction can help your student remember the rules. Here's one of our favourites for teaching students subtraction with regrouping:
More on top?
No need to stop!
More on the floor?
Go next door.
Add 10 more.
If the numbers are the same, then 0 is the name!
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Build a Board Game – Maths STEM Project
Improve maths skills and spark creativity by having students plan, design, and create their own maths-based board games.
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Rainbow Number Facts Board Game
A fun, hands-on board game to consolidate students' understanding of the 'Friends of 10'.
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10 More, 10 Less Differentiated Mazes
Delight your students with this maze challenge, to practise calculating 10 more or 10 less than a value within 120.
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Addition and Subtraction Word Problems - Match Game
Practise reading, modelling, and solving addition and subtraction word problems with a matching activity.
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3-Digit Subtraction - Bar Model Worksheet
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with a 3-digit subtraction worksheet focusing on the bar model strategy.
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Subtraction Strategies - Anchor Charts
Remind your students of the many subtraction strategies with a printable subtraction anchor chart display.
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Interactive Maths Review – Activities for Years 5, 6 and 7
Review important maths concepts covered in years 5, 6 and 7 with a student-led interactive activity.
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20 Polygon Puzzles - Addition and Subtraction Pack
Explore addition and subtraction with this fun polygon puzzle pack.
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Place Value to the Thousands Place - Maths Mats
Practise place value concepts, addition and subtraction with a printable set of place value charts.
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2-Digit Subtraction Game - Dominoes
Use this printable set of double-digit subtraction dominoes to practice a variety of subtraction strategies.
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Subtraction within 20 - Number Bond Worksheet
Practise subtraction strategies, including number bonds and picture models, with a printable subtraction worksheet.
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Part-Part-Whole - Addition and Subtraction Teaching Presentation
Teach your students how to effectively use a bar model to solve 1-digit addition and subtraction number facts using the part-part-whole strategy.
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Adding and Subtracting Integers on Number Lines - Worksheet
Help your students learn to add and subtract integers on a number line with a printable adding and subtracting integers worksheet.
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Mental Maths Addition and Subtraction - Colour By Number
Build confidence with mental maths addition and subtraction through an engaging colour‑by‑number activity.
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2 Digit Subtraction - Flip It Card Game
Practise subtracting two-digit numbers with and without regrouping with a fun game of Subtraction Flip It!
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2-Digit Subtraction Using Bar Models- Differentiated Worksheets
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with differentiated 2-digit subtraction worksheets focusing on the bar model strategy.
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Subtraction Across Zero - Colour By Number Worksheet
Practise subtraction across zeros with a fun colour-by-number worksheet.
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2-Digit Subtraction Using Bar Models - Task Cards
Review and assess your students’ subtraction skills with a set of 2-digit subtraction task cards focusing on using the part-part-whole model.
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Subtraction Strategy Work Mats
Practise using a variety of subtraction strategies to solve problems with a set of printable subtraction work mats.
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Digital Pixel Art - Adding and Subtracting Integers
Practise adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers with an exciting spreadsheet pixel art activity.
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Parts of a Number Sentence (Addition and Subtraction) Posters
Display these posters when learning about parts of addition and subtraction number sentences
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Pizza Maths Fact Fluency Trackers
Motivate and inspire students to learn their maths facts with printable maths fact fluency trackers.
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Ten More and Ten Less - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Practise adding and subtracting 10 from given numbers within 100 in this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Subtraction within 20 - Colour-by-Number Worksheet
Reveal the mystery picture by solving the subtraction problems with a colour-by-number worksheet.
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Number Bonds Subtraction - Worksheet
Practise subtraction using number bonds with differentiated number bond worksheets.
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Making Tens Subtraction Worksheet
Partition numbers to subtract with a printable subtraction worksheet.
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Maths Mazes (Addition and Subtraction)
A set of puzzling mazes that require addition and subtraction skills to solve.
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Doubles Subtraction Board Game
Play our doubles subtraction board game to give your students practice using doubles to solve subtraction problems.
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3 Digit Subtraction With Regrouping Game Cards
Practise 3-Digit subtraction with regrouping strategies with a printable set of subtraction strategy task cards.
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Adding and Subtracting Within 10 - Word Problem Task Cards
Solve word problems practicing addition and subtraction to ten with a set of printable task cards.
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3 Digit Subtraction Game- Mathzee!
Practise subtracting 3-digit numbers with and without regrouping with a fun game of Subtraction Mathzee!
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Exploring Strategies for Subtraction PowerPoint
Explore and teach multiple subtraction strategies with an instructional slide deck