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🧮 Showing Addition and Subtraction with Pictures

Show adding and taking away with cubes, counters, and drawings, so the math in your head matches something you can actually see.

3
lessons
~15 min
to learn
🔢 Math
subject
Ages 3–5
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. Show It with CountersUse cubes and counters to show addition like 3 + 2 and take-away like 5 − 2.Cubes and counters turn math into something you can touch. To show 3 + 2, put out 3 cubes and 2 cubes, push them together, and count 5. To show take-away, put out 5 counters, slide 2 away, and count the 3 that are left.
  2. Draw the MathDraw circles to show addition, and cross circles out to show subtraction.Drawings can show any math story. Draw a circle for each thing: 2 circles plus 4 circles makes 6. For take-away, cross out the ones that leave — 6 circles with 2 crossed out leaves 4. Your picture holds the answer.
  3. Picture It in Your HeadMake mental pictures to add and take away small numbers without objects.You can see math in your imagination. Picture 2 apples and 1 more rolling in — that is 3. Picture 4 cookies and munch 1 — that leaves 3. Cubes, drawings, and mind pictures are three tools that all show the same math.

Questions this course answers

How can you show 3 + 2 with cubes?

Put out 3 cubes, then 2 more cubes, and count them all: 5.

You put out 5 counters and slide 2 away. How many are left?

Sliding 2 away from 5 leaves 3 counters.

You draw 2 circles and 4 more circles. How many circles?

2 circles and 4 circles make 6 circles in all.

To show take-away in a drawing, you...

Crossing out circles shows the ones that went away; the rest are what is left.

Picture 4 cookies. You munch 1 in your mind. How many are left?

4 cookies take away 1 leaves 3 cookies in your mind picture.

Which of these can show a math story?

You can build math with objects, draw it, or picture it in your head — all three work.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • PBS Kids — early math
  • Khan Academy Kids
  • NAEYC — early math learning
  • Britannica Kids

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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