Ink-saving
White cards with coloured borders and the animals in colour. For every animal rescued, your child colours in a star.
Download PDFBridging through 10: subtraction
Subtraction across 10 is the hardest step in Year 1 / Grade 1 for many children: problems like 13 − 5, where you have to go back past 10. This free worksheet practises only these problems, 32 of them, all with answers below 10. Eight animals are stuck in the vines, and every right answer helps to set them free. Print it as a PDF, no sign-up needed.
Colouring version
Black and white for any printer. Once an animal is rescued, your child gets to colour it in.
Download PDFFree for home and the classroom. Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0, so feel free to print, copy and pass it on, just don't sell it. If you share the sheet online, please link to this page. CC BY-NC 4.0
How the worksheet works
- Each of the eight animals has three problems to work out and one gate problem, just like in the game: out of three answers, your child circles the right one.
- When all four problems are right, the animal is rescued: in the ink-saving version your child colours in its star, in the colouring version the whole animal.
- There is no answer key on purpose: check the answers together, or check with addition (13 − 5 = 8, so 8 + 5 = 13).
Tricks for subtracting across 10
Back to 10 first
13 − 5 = 13 − 3 − 2 = 8Take away just enough to reach 10. Then take the rest away from 10.
Minus 9 is minus 10 plus 1
15 − 9 = 5 + 1 = 69 is the quickest: take away 10 first, then add one back.
Count up instead of taking away
14 − 9 = 5, because 9 + 5 = 14When the numbers are close together, counting up is faster.
Doubles backwards
14 − 7 = 716 − 8 = 8If you know 7 + 7 = 14, you also know 14 − 7.
Number bonds to 10 backwards
10 − 2 = 810 − 4 = 6After the first step, it is always a problem starting from 10.
Fact families
8 + 5 = 1313 − 5 = 8Every subtraction has a matching addition to check it.
Common mistakes
- 13 − 5 = 12↔13 − 5 = 8
The ones are subtracted the wrong way round: 5 − 3 instead of 13 − 5.
What helps: First take away 3 to get to 10, then 2 more: 8.
- 15 − 7 = 7↔15 − 7 = 8
Miscounting when counting back past 10.
What helps: 15 − 5 = 10, then 2 more: 8. Check: 8 + 7 = 15.
- 12 − 9 = 13
Adding instead of subtracting, often when children get tired.
What helps: Have your child circle the sign before working out the answer.
For teachers
The sheet practises only subtraction that bridges through 10, which many children find hardest. It fits the second half of Year 1 / Grade 1 and revision in Year 2 / Grade 2. Use it alternately with the bridging through 10 addition sheet. The colouring version prints on any black-and-white photocopier.
Rather practise with a game?
In Number Jungle your child runs through the jungle and dashes through the gate with the right answer. The same problems, matched to their school year, with no ads and offline. Free for Android, iPhone and iPad.
More about the game →FAQ
Which year group is this worksheet for?
From the second half of Year 1 / Grade 1, after bridging through 10 with addition, and for revision in Year 2 / Grade 2.
Is the worksheet really free?
Yes. It is free, with no sign-up and no email address. You may print and copy it for home and for the classroom.
Is there an answer key?
No, on purpose. Checking with addition helps: if your child worked out 13 − 5 = 8, they can check it with 8 + 5 = 13. For the gate problems, the right answer is one of the choices anyway.
What is the difference between the two versions?
The ink-saving version has animals in colour and a star to colour in. The colouring version is completely black and white, and the rescued animal itself gets coloured in.
How can my child keep practising subtraction across 10?
Short, frequent practice helps most. For example with the free game Number Jungle: facts that are still wobbly come up more often until they stick.