Free Printable Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats
Keep those math skills fresh this summer with these hands-on and engaging watermelon addition and subtraction mats, perfect for kindergarten and first grade students.
Watermelon Addition and 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 watermelon addition and subtraction mats are the perfect way to keep your students engaged and actively learning this summer.
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 summer.
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 activity touches on many key math skills.
Easy Prep Math Mats
These watermelon addition and subtraction mats couldn’t be easier to prep. They come in color and black and white. 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 summer!
Setting Up the Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats
Supplies Needed:
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- Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats (button to download is at the bottom of this post)
- Dice or foam cubes
- Small manipulatives or mini erasers
- 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 Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats
There are many ways to use the watermelon addition and subtraction mats with your students. Whether you’re working on addition or subtraction, there are many different ways to use the math mats.
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 watermelon.
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 watermelon 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 on the first spot at the top of the mat and the smaller number on 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 watermelon 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
These watermelon addition and subtraction mats are 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 have them alternate solving addition and subtraction equations or choose which to solve each time they roll.
If you wanted 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 addition to 10 or 20.
If your students don’t have manipulatives to solve with, they can simply use their dry-erase marker to draw a picture on the math mat.
If you have real watermelon seeds, that would be a great manipulative for your students to use that sticks with the watermelon theme!
I hope your students enjoy working on their addition and subtraction skills as well as problem-solving this summer as they roll, show, and write each math problem with these watermelon addition and subtraction mats. This is the perfect way to keep these skills fresh all summer long!
To check out more engaging addition and subtraction activities, click here!
Click the button below to grab your free copy of the Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats.
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Here are some more summer themed activities to check out!
Watermelon Roll and Cover Alphabet Game
Ocean Addition and Subtraction Mats
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