Under the Box

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Purpose:

You can help your child to instantly recall the addition and subtraction facts of 5 and 10.

What you need:

  • 5 - 10 toys - You could use shells, seeds or beans instead if you want to.
  • A kete, bag or box big enough to out the toys in

What to do:

Work with five toys at first.

Ask your child to count the toys.
    How many toys do we have?

Ask your child to look away while you hide some toys under the box then ask them to work out how many you have hidden.
    How many toys do we have now?
    How many toys have I put under the box?

Talk to your child about the number of toys.

There are 3 toys in the box and 2 toys here. 3 and 2 is 5. You may like to write 3 + 2 = 5     to record this fact.
We had 5 toys and 3 hid under the box, now we have 2 toys. You may like to write 5 - 3 = 2 to record this fact.

Children may need to use their fingers to help them work out how many toys are hidden. When they can do this well, ask them to put their hand behind their back and imagine the fingers they are using. Encourage them to imagine the toys under the box in their heads.

Play again, hiding a different number of toys each time. Include the examples of all the toys hiding and no toys hiding.

Once your child knows the facts of 5 confidently, use 10 toys to develop their knowledge of the addition and subtraction facts of 10.

What to expect your child to do:

  • Know numbers that add to make 5:
    • 1 and 4
    • 3 and 2
    • 5 and 0
  • Know numbers that add to make 10:
    • 1 and 9
    • 2 and 8
    • 3 and 7
    • 4 and 6
    • 5 and 5
    • 10 and 0

He Kupu Māori:

addition facts meka tāpiritanga
subtraction facts meka tangohanga

He Whakawhitinga Kōrero:

  • E hia katoa ngā taonga tākaro? (How many toys altogether.)
  • E hia ngā taonga tākaro ināianei kei roto i te pouaka? (How many toys are in the box now?)
  • E hia ngā taonga tākaro i tangohia e au? (How many toys did I take out?)
  • E toru ngā taonga tākaro kei roto i te pouaka. E rua kei raro. E toru me te rua, ka rima katoa ngā taonga tākaro. (There are 3 toys in the box and 2 underneath. 3 and 2 make 5 toys althogether.)
  • Anei te tuhinga o te tāpiritanga: 3 + 2 = 5. (We can write the addition like this: 3 + 2 = 5.)
  • E rima ngā taonga tākaro, nāku i tango e rua. E toru e toe ana i te pouaka. (There were 5 toys in the box. I took out 2. Three are left in the box.)
  • Anei te tuhinga o te tangohanga: 5 – 2 = 3. (We can write the subtraction like this: 5 – 2 = 3.)

Download a file of this activity:

PDF (199KB)