Kindergarten addition & subtraction within 5 worksheets
Addition and subtraction within 5 worksheets give kindergartners twelve small facts stacked the way they will see them for years: one number over another with a plus or minus sign. Every answer is 5 or less, and a page mixes adding and taking away so your child reads the sign each time. These are the facts the kindergarten standard asks children to know fluently, without counting.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core K.OA.A.5.
Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.
Need one more? These are the skills next door at this grade.
The kind of problems you'll get
Solve each problem.
-
0 + 2 =
Answer: 2
-
2 + 0 =
Answer: 2
-
2 − 1 =
Answer: 1
Every print pulls a fresh set of problems at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.
What's on a kindergarten sheet
The sample sheet above has 12 problems. Its answers run from 0 to 5.
- Addition & subtraction within 5. Solve each problem. 12 problems per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key after the problems.
How to teach this
Start with the fingers of one hand. Every fact on the page fits, so your child can show 3 + 2 by holding up three fingers and then two. After a few sheets, cover the hand and ask for the answer first, then check with fingers. Read the sign aloud together on every problem for the first sheet or two; the mistakes here are almost always a plus read as a minus. Facts with zero are on the page on purpose: 4 + 0 and 4 - 0 both leave four, and children need to see that.
Watch for: Kids count from 1 for every fact, even 2 + 1. The goal of this standard is knowing the fact, so after a few sheets ask for the answer before the fingers come out. Kids read the minus sign as plus and add. Have them say the sign aloud before answering: 'five take away three.' Kids see 0 and get stuck. Say it as a story: four cookies, and nobody eats any.
Common questions about kindergarten addition & subtraction within 5
- How is this different from the within 10 page?
- Within 5 is the kindergarten fluency standard: the facts a child should just know by the end of the year. Within 10 is the next step, with bigger sums and the start of make-ten thinking. Start here.
- Why are there problems with zero?
- Because 3 + 0 confuses children who expect adding to always make more. A page that skips zero leaves that gap for later.
- How many facts per sheet?
- Twelve, mixed adding and subtracting, in the stacked layout. Every print draws a fresh mix.
- Should my child use fingers?
- At first, yes. The aim by the end of kindergarten is to answer without them, so switch to asking for the answer first once the sheets go smoothly.
Related worksheets
- Kindergarten addition & subtraction within 10 Same grade, nearby skill
- Kindergarten number bonds Same grade, nearby skill
- Kindergarten addition & subtraction within 10 Practice this one next
- Addition & subtraction within 5, all grades The full progression
- All kindergarten math worksheets Every skill at this level
- All kindergarten worksheets Everything at this level
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Aligned to Common Core K.OA.A.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.
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