Understand One More and One Less – One Less Than Animals

Description

Help children develop their understanding of one less than numbers to 10 with this engaging animal counting worksheet. Children are encouraged to count the animals and then cross out one animal to find the number that is one less.

The first example is completed for children, providing a clear model of how to approach the activity. Children can then apply the same strategy to the remaining questions, developing their understanding of the relationship between a number and the number that comes immediately before it.

Encourage children to use the sentence stem “One less than ___ is ___” as they complete the activity. Saying the number relationships aloud helps children develop their mathematical vocabulary and explain their thinking clearly.

Children can practise:

Finding one less than a number
Counting accurately to 10
Counting backwards
Recognising the number that comes before a given number
Understanding how quantities change when one is removed
Matching quantities to numerals
Developing early number sense
Using mathematical language to explain their answers
Building confidence with number relationships

The visual animal theme provides a practical and accessible way for children to understand the concept of one less. Crossing out an animal makes the change in quantity visible and helps children connect the action of taking one away with the corresponding number.

This resource is ideal for Early Years and KS1 maths and can be used for independent learning, small-group work, whole-class teaching, maths interventions or as part of continuous provision.

For additional practical learning, provide children with counters, cubes or toy animals. Ask them to build a quantity, remove one object and then identify the new quantity. This provides a concrete experience before children complete the worksheet independently.

This one less than to 10 maths resource is a simple and effective way to develop children’s understanding of number order, counting backwards and the relationship between quantities, while encouraging them to use precise mathematical language.