Gingerbread Addition and Subtraction Mats Free Printable
Enjoy these free Gingerbread Addition and Subtraction Mats this holiday season! Your students will practice math facts & build fine motor skills with these fun math mats.
Gingerbread Addition & Subtraction Mats
It’s so important to give primary students ample opportunities to practice addition and subtraction skills in a hands-on way. This helps them connect to the concept and gain a deeper understanding.
These gingerbread-themed addition and subtraction mats are the perfect way to keep your students engaged and actively learning this winter.
These roll it, show it, write it mats give students a ton of great practice solving addition and subtraction problems in various ways. Plus, they’re no prep, which makes it easier on you as the teacher, too!
You can add these mats to your whole group lessons as practice, as a math center game, a small group activity, partner practice, or even use it as an independent learning activity or early finisher option. These mats are so easy to use over and over again. You can even send home a copy with your students to use at home over the holiday break.
Easy Prep Math Mats
These fun Christmas-themed addition and subtraction mats couldn’t be easier to prep. All you need to do is print them and either laminate them or slide them into a write-and-wipe pocket for added durability.
You can prep several mats at once and be set for the whole winter!
Your students will gain confidence building equations, modeling to solve with manipulatives or drawings, and writing equations. From number sense and one-to-one correspondence to problem-solving, this fun and engaging activity touches on many essential math skills.
Setting Up the Gingerbread Addition and Subtraction Mats
Supplies Needed:
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- Gingerbread Addition and Subtraction Mats (button to access the resource is at the bottom of this post)
- Dice or foam cubes
- Small manipulatives or mini erasers like a gingerbread man
- Permanent marker (optional)
- Dry-erase markers
- Write and wipe pockets (optional)
Instructions:
- Print the mats.
- Slide the mats into write and wipe pockets OR laminate them.
- Gather dice, manipulatives, and dry-erase markers.
- Store the entire activity in a colorful tray or large zipper baggie.
Using the Gingerbread Activity
There are many ways to use the gingerbread-themed math mats with your students. Whether you’re working on addition or subtraction, there are many different ways to make learning fun.
How to Use the Mats for Addition
Students will roll two dice and place them in the top spots on the mat.
Next, they’ll place the corresponding number of manipulatives (plastic counting cubes, buttons, pom poms, mini erasers, etc.) on each side of the gingerbread house or cookie sheet.
Lastly, they’ll use their dry-erase marker to write the equation at the bottom of the mat.
Example: The student rolls a 4 and a 6. They’ll place them in the boxes at the top of the mat. Then they’ll put 4 buttons on the left side of the house and 6 buttons on the right side. They’ll add up all the buttons and write the equation at the bottom.
How to Use the Mats for Subtraction
Students will roll two dice and place the biggest number in the first spot at the top of the mat and the smaller number in the second spot.
Next, they’ll put manipulatives on the mat to represent the larger number rolled.
Students will remove the manipulatives on the mat to represent the smaller number rolled.
Lastly, they’ll use their dry-erase marker to write the equation at the bottom of the mat.
Example: The student rolls a 5 and a 3. They’ll place the 5 in the first box and the 3 in the second one. They’ll put 5 buttons on the cookie sheet and remove 3 of them. How many are left? They’ll solve and write the equation at the bottom of the mat.
Ways to Differentiate
This fun math activity is super easy to differentiate to meet the needs of your students and their math skills. You can assign either the addition or subtraction math depending on what they need the most practice with.
If you have students working on mixed practice, you can give them both mats and alternate solving addition and subtraction equations or choose which to solve each time they roll.
If you want to differentiate the number you use, you can make your own dice by using foam cubes and a permanent marker. Just write the numbers you’d like them to work with. You could scale this for students working only on addition to 5 or up it to sums of 10 or 20.
If your students don’t have manipulatives to solve with, they can use their dry-erase marker to draw a picture on the math mat.
If you have real gingerbread men cookies, that would be an excellent manipulative for your students to use that sticks with the gingerbread theme!
You could also add a recording sheet for your students to write their math problems on so you can check them after to make sure they were completing the problems correctly.
I know these gingerbread math mats will be a hit in your room this holiday season. They are so cute, and your students will love practicing their math facts with these roll it, show it, write it mats.
Click the button below to grab your free copy of the Gingerbread Addition and Subtraction Mats. Merry Christmas!
Here are some more gingerbread activities for you!
Gingerbread CVC Word Building Strips
Gingerbread Letter Sounds Write the Room
Gingerbread Editable Board Game
Gingerbread Match and Cover the Letter Mats
Editable Gingerbread Sight Words Write the Room
Editable Gingerbread Word Building Mats