Addition & Subtraction - Super Simple Craft Activity
Want an easy way to help your kid learn addition and subtraction? This super simple craft project will have them learning these foundation math concepts in no time AND they’ll have fun doing it!
Teaching math to kids can be quite a challenge. New concepts can be difficult to grasp. Addition and subtraction skills may seem simple to an adult but they are quite big ideas for an emerging math mind to process. One way of supporting your child is to provide sufficient practice questions to give them the opportunity to test their problem-solving skills. You can make generating those questions easier and way more interesting with this fun math manipulative that lets kids choose their own questions. This will be useful for addition and subtraction up to 10.
You can create this simple little tool with items you already have in the home - a toilet roll and some colored paper. It works by rotating paper columns around the toilet roll to create different addition or subtraction problems. Initially, you can work with your child setting problems for them until they understand how it works and then they can start independently creating questions of their own.
This math activity works well for pre-k, kindergarten and 1st grade.
For more resources….
We love math at Kids Grove Press, so if you are looking for additional resources you can check out our math activity books:
Math Activity Workbook for Kindergarten Kids
Number Tracing Practice Book for Kids Ages 3-5
You may like to learn more about the importance of math in our articles:
Building math confidence in early childhood
Why number writing is essential for school readiness
And you may like to supplement this math activity with our free printable math addition and subtraction worksheet printables. You can find them here.
What you need to get started
toilet roll
5 pieces of colored paper (of your choice)
pencil
ruler
scissors
marker (preferably a darker color)
glue stick
Step by step instructions
1) Use your ruler and divide the toilet roll into five equal parts.
2) Take the measurement from the toilet roll. Cut a strip from each piece of colored paper and ensure they are the same size as that section measurement. For example, if you measured 5 equal parts at 2 inches per part, cut your papers into 2 inch wide strips.
3) Wrap each piece around the toilet roll and make sure you have enough overlap that you can glue them together to form a circle.
4) Write the numbers 0 to 10 on 3 strips.
5) Write the = symbol on one strip.
6) Write a + and - symbol on one strip.
7) Wrap each strip around the toilet roll and glue the overlap together. Be careful not to glue the strips to the toilet roll. You want them to move around the roll freely.
8) Make sure they go in this order: numbers, +/- symbol, numbers, = symbol, numbers.
Now create your questions!
And there you have it! A simple way for your child to make addition and subtraction questions of their own. This works so well because…
they enjoy the action of moving the columns
they feel empowered by having the ability to create the questions
How to solve a problem
Encourage your child to try and work out the problem on their own. When they are answering a math problem there are some things you can do that will help them work out the answer. Let them know there are different ways to problem-solve and this will help them build their math confidence rather than diminish their confidence by having them see the problem as an obstacle they cannot overcome. Consider letting them…
use their fingers to count or take away
act it out by using counters, toys, blocks or even gummy bears as substitutes for the numbers. Sometimes it helps to see, ‘I have three counters plus two counters makes five counters’
get them to draw the problem. Again it helps to see the problem.
Knowing that they can draw or use other methods to find the answer is an important concept that they will use later in their math life. They’ll be encouraged to make visual representations as a problem-solving technique all the way through school.
The Final Word
This is just a fun way to give your kid an opportunity to practice their addition and subtraction skills. It’s a nice way to incorporate craft into another subject area. Let your kid have fun with math!