Free Grade 1 Math Worksheets

A teacher's guide to Grade 1 math worksheets

First grade is the year when arithmetic becomes real. A Kindergartner works with numbers to 10, with objects close at hand, and thinks of addition as "putting together." A first grader is asked to work to 20, to do it without constant counting, and to start seeing that the numbers follow rules that can be used and trusted. By the end of the year, many children can look at 7 + 8 and say "15" almost at once, and a few can explain exactly how they got there. That change, from counting to knowing, is the heart of Grade 1.

This page gathers the Grade 1 worksheets: addition within 20, subtraction within 20, a mixed-review page, and missing-number pages for both operations. This guide explains what the year is for, which strategies make the facts easier, how the missing-number pages work, and how to build a routine that suits the child in front of you.

A Grade 1 addition page. Facts now reach 20, and zero facts, doubles and "teen plus a small number" problems all appear.

What Grade 1 builds on and builds toward

Grade 1 sits between two larger ideas.

Behind it is Kindergarten's work with numbers to 10: counting, comparing, and the first addition and subtraction facts. By the end of Kindergarten, most children can work with small numbers using objects, and many are fluent within 5.

Ahead of it is Grade 2's place value and regrouping: adding and subtracting two-digit numbers, where ones and tens must be handled separately.

Between the two sits the crossing of 10. A problem such as 8 + 5 asks a child to do something new. The answer, 13, is more than 10, so the child has to see 13 as "ten and three." That is the first time most children reorganize a number into a ten and some ones, and it is the earliest seed of place-value thinking. Many teachers say that the "make ten" idea is the most important mathematical idea in Grade 1.

In many US state standards, Grade 1 asks children to add and subtract within 20, to show fluency within 10, to understand the equals sign as "the same as," and to find the unknown number in an equation such as 8 + ▢ = 11. Standards differ from place to place, but this is the broad picture, and the worksheets on this page follow it.

What the pages cover

Addition within 20. Sums up to 20. The pages mix small facts, such as 3 + 6, with facts that cross ten, such as 8 + 5, and include zero facts and doubles.

Subtraction within 20. Differences from numbers up to 20. These are the reverse of the addition facts, and many children find them a half-step harder.

Mixed review. Addition and subtraction on the same page, so the child has to read the sign each time.

Addition missing number. Equations such as ▢ + 11 = 20 or 8 + ▢ = 18, where the child finds the unknown.

Subtraction missing number. Equations such as ▢ − 2 = 1 or 20 − ▢ = 14.

Each of the five has thirty numbered pages, with fresh numbers on every page.

Strategies that make the facts easier

The aim of Grade 1 is not to memorize 200 separate facts, but to see how the facts are connected. A child who has a handful of strategies can work out any fact quickly, and in doing so, learns it. Here are the most useful ones.

Counting on. For 9 + 3, start at 9 and count up three: 10, 11, 12. It works best when the larger number comes first, so a child can turn 3 + 9 into 9 + 3. That is the commutative property, the idea that the order of addends does not change the sum.

Doubles. 6 + 6 = 12, 7 + 7 = 14, 8 + 8 = 16, 9 + 9 = 18. Children usually find doubles easy to remember, and they are the anchor for the next strategy.

Near doubles. 7 + 8 is one more than 7 + 7, so it is 15. 6 + 7 is one more than 6 + 6, so 13.

Make ten. For 8 + 5, take 2 from the 5 and give it to the 8, making 10. Then add the 3 that is left: 13. Here are a few more:

Adding zero and adding ten. Any number + 0 is itself. 10 + 3 is 13, because the ten and the three can be heard in the name. These are the easiest facts, and a page includes several of them, such as 17 + 0 and 3 + 10.

Fact families. 5 + 8 = 13, 8 + 5 = 13, 13 − 5 = 8, 13 − 8 = 5. Four facts from the same three numbers. A child who knows one knows all four.

Subtraction within 20

Subtraction deserves its own attention, because it is genuinely harder than addition for most children. There are three common strategies.

Counting back. For 15 − 3, start at 15 and count back three: 14, 13, 12. It works well for small numbers, and badly for large ones. Counting back from 15 by 9 is slow and error-prone.

Thinking addition. For 15 − 9, ask "9 plus what makes 15?" Count up from 9: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. That is 6 steps, so the answer is 6. This is often easier than counting back, and it uses the connection between addition and subtraction.

Going down through ten. For 14 − 8, subtract 4 to reach 10, and then subtract the remaining 4: 10 − 4 = 6. Here are more examples:

All three work, and good teachers show all three. A child will gravitate to the one that makes sense to them, and that is fine.

The missing-number pages

A missing-number page looks different from a fact page, and it asks for different thinking. Here is a typical row: 8 + ▢ = 18. The child is not asked "what is 8 plus 10?" but "what do you add to 8 to get 18?"

A missing-number page. The box can sit in the first position or the second, so the child has to read each equation carefully.

These pages teach several things at once.

The meaning of the equals sign. Many young children believe the equals sign means "the answer comes next." A problem such as ▢ + 11 = 20 shows that it means "both sides have the same value." This is a key idea in all of later algebra, and Grade 1 is the right time to learn it.

Addition and subtraction are linked. To solve 8 + ▢ = 18, a child can count up from 8 to 18, or subtract 8 from 18. Both are valid, and a child who sees that they are the same is learning that the two operations are connected.

Thinking backward. A missing number asks a child to work from the result back to the start. It is a more demanding kind of reasoning, and it gets easier with practice.

Fact families again. ▢ + 11 = 20 is a fact in the family 9, 11, 20. A child who knows that 9 + 11 = 20 can find the missing number at once.

For a child who is stuck, a few supports help.

• Draw it. A bar or box for the whole, divided into two parts, one of which is a box.
• Use a number line. Start at one number, and hop to the other.
• Use counters. Make the start, add counters until you reach the total, and count what you added.
• Say it in words. "Eight and how many make eighteen?"

On the subtraction missing-number page shown above, the box can sit in the first position, as in ▢ − 2 = 1, or in the second, as in 6 − ▢ = 6. The first kind asks "what did I start with?" and the second asks "how much did I take away?" They are quite different questions, and a child needs to meet both.

A routine that works

A short, steady routine does more than occasional long sessions. A good pattern for a Grade 1 child:

1. Oral warm-up. Three minutes of quick questions: "What's 6 + 4? What's 9 + 1? What's 8 + 2?" Start with making ten.
2. Choose a strategy. "Today we'll practice near doubles."
3. Work a few problems with objects or a drawing. Say each step aloud.
4. Do half a page on paper. Five to seven problems, not the whole page.
5. Check together. Go over the answers, and ask how the child found one or two.
6. Fix a mistake. Pick one wrong answer and work out why.
7. End with a game. A few minutes of dice or cards.

Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty. If a child is tired, stop. A short, successful session beats a long, frustrating one.

Games that build fluency

First graders learn fluency best through play, and a handful of games are worth keeping in your back pocket.

• Make ten memory. Lay out cards from 0 to 10, face down, and find pairs that make 10.
• Roll and add to 20. Roll two dice, add them to a running total, and see who reaches 20 first.
• Doubles bingo. Call out "6 and 6," and mark the answer.
• Hop to 20. A number line on the floor, and a die. Roll, hop, and say the equation.
• Cover up. Put counters on a ten-frame, cover some, and ask how many are hidden.
• Subtraction war. Each player flips two cards, and subtracts the smaller from the larger. The larger difference wins.
• Missing number hunt. One player hides some counters under a cup. "There were 12, and I can see 7. How many are under the cup?"
• Number of the day. Pick a number, and write as many equations as you can that equal it.

Ten minutes a day of games gives a child far more practice than they would get from a page alone, and it makes the practice something to look forward to.

Word problems and real life

A page of bare equations is only part of the picture. First graders also need to meet addition and subtraction in stories, because that is how they appear in life. Here are a few simple types, with examples a child can act out.

• Joining. "There are 9 birds on a wire. 6 more land. How many birds?" (9 + 6 = 15)
• Separating. "You have 14 grapes. You eat 5. How many are left?" (14 − 5 = 9)
• Part, part, whole. "There are 8 red cars and 7 blue cars. How many cars?" (8 + 7 = 15)
• Comparing. "I have 13 stickers and you have 8. How many more do I have?" (13 − 8 = 5)
• Unknown start. "Some children were on the swings. 4 more came. Now there are 11. How many were there at first?" (▢ + 4 = 11)

The last type is where the missing-number pages come in. A child who has acted out the swing story with counters will see why ▢ + 4 = 11 is a perfectly sensible question.

Ask the child to tell the story back, in their own words, before solving. If they can say what is happening, they usually know what to do.

A sample twelve-minute session

A session with a six-year-old working on "make ten" with an addition page.

1. Minute 0 to 3. Ten-frame warm-up. Put 8 counters on a ten-frame. "How many more to fill it?" (2.) "Now put 5 counters beside it. How many in all?" Talk through 8 + 5 = 13.
2. Minute 3 to 4. Write the equation, and show the move: "2 from the 5 fills the frame, and 3 are left. Ten and three."
3. Minute 4 to 9. Turn to the page. Pick out the facts that cross ten, such as 8 + 5 and 9 + 6, and solve them with the same move. Say each step aloud.
4. Minute 9 to 11. Do two problems from memory, with no frame.
5. Minute 11 to 12. Finish with one quick game: "I say a number, you say how many more to make 10."

Notice that the page is only a part of the session. The ten-frame and the talk are what make the page meaningful.

The equals sign and the idea of balance

Many first graders will tell you that 8 = 3 + 5 is "backward," or that 5 + 3 = 4 + 4 is "wrong." This is a common misunderstanding, and it is worth tackling directly. They have seen the equals sign only at the end of a calculation, and they take it to mean "and the answer is."

A balance scale is the best fix. Put 8 blocks on one side, and 3 and 5 on the other. They balance. Now try 5 + 3 = 4 + 4. Put the blocks on the scale. They balance, and the equation is true.

Other ways to teach the idea:

• Write the equation in different directions. 8 = 3 + 5. 3 + 5 = 8. 8 = 8.
• True or false. "Is this true? 7 = 3 + 4. 6 + 2 = 5 + 3. 9 = 4 + 4."
• Fill in both sides. 5 + 2 = ▢ + 4.
• Say "is the same as." Read the equals sign aloud as "is the same as," not "makes."

A child who understands this can solve a missing-number problem easily, because they see the equation as a statement of balance, with a part missing.

How to know the facts are secure

Fluency does not just mean correct. It means quick and effortless. A few ways to tell:

• Speed. Can the child answer within a few seconds, without counting?
• Confidence. Do they answer without checking with you?
• Consistency. Do they get the same facts right day after day?
• Flexibility. Can they use a known fact to work out an unknown one?
• Explanation. Can they say how they know?

A useful target is for the facts within 10 to be nearly automatic by the end of the year, and the facts to 20 to be well on the way. Do not worry if a few are still shaky. They will come with time.

Common difficulties and what helps

A child still counts from one. Show counting on. Practice with objects, and play "start at the bigger number."

A child makes off-by-one errors when counting on. The classic mistake is counting the starting number as one. Show it with a number line, with the starting number marked and the hops counted.

A child confuses plus and minus. Circle the sign first, and say it aloud.

A child does not understand the missing-number page. Go back to objects and balance scales. Then try again.

A child writes digits backward. Common at this age. Practice with the number tracing pages.

A child is slow but accurate. That is a good place to be. Speed follows. Avoid timed tests.

A child is fast but careless. Slow down, and ask them to check one answer in a different way.

A child is anxious about math. Keep sessions short, use games, and praise effort and strategies, not just correct answers.

How to know a child is ready for Grade 2

A child is ready to move to Grade 2 when the within-20 facts are quick and confident, when they understand the equals sign, and when they can think of numbers as tens and ones. Signs include:

• They know the pairs that make 10 and can use them.
• They add and subtract within 20 without counting from one.
• They can solve a missing-number problem and explain why.
• They can say what 10 more or 10 less than a number is.
• They are curious about bigger numbers.

If these are in place, two-digit addition and subtraction is a natural next step. If not, time spent here is well spent. There is no hurry.

For teachers

A first-grade classroom has a wide range, and these pages help meet it.

• Differentiate by skill. Give some children the within-20 pages, others the missing-number ones.
• Use them for centers. With counters, ten-frames and a partner, a page becomes a hands-on station.
• Quick assessments. A single page, done independently, shows where a child stands.
• Warm-ups and exit tickets. A few problems from a page make a short, focused routine.
• Homework. A half page a night is a gentle habit.
• Class sets. Print different pages to avoid copying, or print a bundle.

The Grade 1 math bundles collect ten pages of each skill into a single download, which is handy for a week of practice or a take-home pack. The number sense pages build place value and skip counting, which support the same year of learning.

For parents

You do not need to be a mathematician to help a first grader.

• Talk about numbers. "We need 8 apples, and we have 5. How many more?" Real questions make math real.
• Play games. Dice, cards and dominoes all build fluency.
• Keep it short. Ten minutes a day.
• Let your child explain. "How did you work it out?" The explanation matters more than the answer.
• Do not teach tricks that skip understanding. A strategy a child understands is better than a rule they follow without thinking.
• Be patient. Math develops unevenly, and a child who struggles in October may soar in March.

Questions that come up

My child counts on their fingers. Is that a problem? No, at this age it is natural. Encourage counting on from the bigger number, and gradually the fingers will fade.

How many problems should my child do? Five to ten, with care, are better than a whole page in a rush.

Should I use a timer? Not at first. Accuracy and understanding come before speed.

My child hates the missing-number pages. They are harder, and that is normal. Go back to balance scales and counters, and try one or two problems at a time.

How do missing-number problems connect to later math? They are the first step toward algebra, where an unknown is found by reasoning.

What if my child's school teaches a different method? Ask the teacher. Methods vary, but the ideas are the same.

Grade 1 math is the year in which numbers become friends. A child who leaves it knowing that numbers can be broken apart, put together and balanced has a foundation that will serve them for the rest of their schooling.