Mrs T's Musings

It takes a lot of repetition for students to become confident with addition and subtraction, which is why I like to make things more engaging for my students by using a range of fun activities. If you’re looking for a fun and interesting activity to help your students practice addition and subtraction, this blog post is for you. I’m going to share how to use Color by Number Worksheets in your Math Lessons and why they’re such a great resource for addition and subtraction practice. 

Why Use Color by Number Worksheets for Math?

There are many reasons why Color by Number worksheets are such a great tool for your math lessons, and here are just a few of them. 

Firstly, they’re a great way to keep students engaged and having fun with math! Many students enjoy the opportunity to color in a picture during math lessons, and the added challenge of having to correctly match the colors is a great motivator. It also adds some variety to the typical worksheets or task cards that are often used to review equations in math, which makes it more novel and fun for students. 

Color by Number Worksheets also allow students to work at their own pace and to answer the questions in the order that feels most comfortable to them. This makes the task less overwhelming for those students with negative associations with math. It also gives students an opportunity to find the strategies that work best for them. 

Finally, Color by Number Worksheets allow you to easily and clearly see how well your students understand the content. Students are filling in spaces with color, which can give you a clear glimpse at whether students are working out the equations correctly just by walking past while they’re working. It also makes marking at the end of the task quicker because, again, it’s very clear which equations were not correct based on the colors the students used. 

How To Use Color by Number Worksheets for Addition and Subtraction Practice 

Color by Number Worksheets are super simple to start using in your learning space straight away. Simply print the worksheet that is at the right level for your students and explain how the concept of this activity works before letting them work on it at their own pace.

Here’s how it works.

Students are given a page that has a picture on it. This picture is divided into different sections. In each section, there’s an equation. In this case, the equations will be for either addition or subtraction. Students need to find the answer to the equation. Then, they take that answer and refer to the color guide at the top of the page to see what color they need to add to that section. 

At the end of the task, students will have colored each section of the picture using the number code.

This is a fun, engaging, and super simple way to help your students practice addition and subtraction.

If you’re after a ready-made set of templates to use to try color by number math in your learning space, I have a set of Addition Color by Number Worksheets, Subtraction Color by Number Worksheets, and even Multiplication Color by Number Worksheets available in my store. You can also get all sets at a discount by buying the Color By Number Bundle. 

I hope that you and your students have fun trying Color by Number Worksheets during Math! 

Do you want some more tips for teaching addition while you’re here? Then have a read through my post of Addition Games and Activities for Kids.

P.S. I love to hear how my tips and resources are helping you in your teaching, so leave a comment to let me know!

Have a question or a request? You can contact me at blueskydesignsbymrst@gmail.com.