Subtraction Games for 2nd Graders

How to Help Your Child Master Subtraction

Mastering subtraction is an important part of a 2nd grader's mathematical success. Your child will be expected to solve 1-step and 2-step problems within 100. The ability to mentally subtract within 20 is also critical. Because everything in math builds on one another, your child must master basic subtraction before beginning subtraction with borrowing. The games below will allow your child to have fun while perfecting his or her subtraction skills.

Subtraction Swimming

Before beginning the game, create a basic number line from zero to 20. Using goldfish snacks and the number line, have your child solve and model subtraction problems that you provide. For example, if you ask your child to solve 10 - 4, he or she would place a goldfish on ten and count how far the fish would have to swim to reach the four on the number line. Depending on your child's ability level, it may be helpful to place a goldfish on the starting point and ending point and then swim with a third fish to calculate the difference. If your child is more advanced, you may want to make the number line extend beyond 20.

Take It Away

This dice game can be played by two or more people. Each player starts with the number 99 on his or her paper. Players should take turns rolling the dice and subtracting that number from 99. The first player to reach 50 by subtracting is the winner! You can alter this subtraction game by changing the starting or finishing number. Another idea would be to have your child subtract the number on the dice twice per turn.

Round and Round

You can be ready for your child to test his or her subtraction skills by just grabbing a deck of cards! After removing the face cards from the deck, divide the remaining cards evenly between the two players. Each player draws the top two cards from his or her deck and calculates the difference between the two numbers and writes it down. After five rounds of play the player with the highest number wins the game. As an alternative, you can leave face cards in the deck, with each of them equaling ten and an ace representing one.