Monster Math

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Do you have a little monster at home who is starting to learn about addition? Today’s Monster Math printable is absolutely perfect for young learners who are starting to work with single digit addition and are into hands-on learning and spooky themes. This printable is also arriving just in time to use for the Halloween season, but – honestly- it’s great for anytime of year!

This printable includes 13 pages of large cards (2 cards per page) that you can print, cut out and use to help your little ones master the concept of addition and  memorize some single-digit addition facts!

Why We Love Them:

Your little one will be drawn in by the bright colors and fun monster theme of these cards, as well as their jumbo -“monstrous”- size! They’ll also love playing games and interacting with the cards through the various activities you can do with them (more about that below).  As a parent, I love these printable cards because they give children a chance to practice/explore the concept of addition, while also presenting visual math facts to learn and memorize.

How to Use Them:

First of all, I definitely suggest laminating these cards after you print and cut them out! This will not only allow you to save and re-use them over and over again, but it will also allow you to play different games with them as you teach your young child about single-digit addition.

If your child is new to the concept of single-digit addition, you can use this simple method to show them how it works with these cards. 

  • Instruct them to read the first number on the card and count the same amount of empty spaces below the equation. Then have your child fill in those spaces with marker (Expo/dry-erase marker is recommended if the card is laminated).
  • Next, (if you haven’t before) explain that the addition (+) symbol means that you will be filling in more blank spaces to make a bigger number, altogether.
  • Explain that the second number in the equation represents how many more spaces you need to fill in next. Then go ahead and have your child fill in that amount of blank spaces. You may want to encourage your child to use two different colors- one to represent each number.
  • Lastly, count all of the filled in spaces together to get the sum. You may want to walk through the finished equation one more time to make sure your child understands the following: how each set of filled in spaces represents a number in the equation, the meaning of the addition (+) symbol, and how the number of filled in spaces altogether is the final answer, or sum.

Once your child has the hang of the basic concept of single-digit addition, you may want to mix up how you use these cards and have some fun with them!

Here are a couple of specific  ideas you can try as you use these Monster Math cards with your own little monster: 

  • Instead of using marker, have your child use two different colors of Play-Doh to fill in the blank spaces on each card and show the sum. Kids will definitely enjoy the chance to use Play-Doh for math, and this also provides a fun, kinesthetic/visual aid to help them get addition practice!
  • You could also use pennies to fill in the blank spaces(this is also great because it reinforces the idea of pennies as units of 1). If you have two sets of differently-colored beads, those would work great, too!
  • If you are wanting to use this activity for the Halloween season, you could also use candy (Candy Corn or M & Ms would fit nicely) to fill in the blank spaces and show each addition problem! We guarantee you that kids will enjoy this particular math activity, (but we take no responsibility for resulting sugar-highs)!

Tip: Always remember to read the equation together once they’ve filled in the spaces as indicated. This will help your child start to memorize addition facts!

We hope you and your young learners love this Monster Math printable! (Also, if you got “Monster Mash” stuck in your head after reading this – as I did while writing it- I’m truly sorry.)

Click the link below to download your own copy of these Monster Math activity cards!

To Download Your Monster Math Printable, Click Here.

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