🧩 Subtraction with Borrowing – The Math Escape Room

Welcome to the Math Escape Room! Today you will face tricky subtraction problems. But don’t worry — you will learn how to “borrow” numbers to solve them step by step.

Borrowing happens when a top digit is smaller than the bottom digit. Then we take 1 from the next column to help us solve the problem.

📌 What is Borrowing?

Sometimes we cannot subtract directly. For example:

Example: 12 − 5

We cannot do 2 − 5, so we borrow 1 from the 10s place.

1. 12 becomes 10 + 2
2. Borrow 1 ten → now we have 12 in ones
3. 12 − 5 = 7

🔐 Mission 1 – Unlock the Door

Solve these to escape:

1. 12 − 4 = ___
2. 13 − 6 = ___
3. 14 − 7 = ___
4. 15 − 8 = ___
5. 16 − 9 = ___

🧠 Mission 2 – Borrowing Steps

Follow the steps carefully.

Example: 21 − 8

1. 1 is smaller than 8 → we borrow
2. 21 becomes 10 + 11
3. 11 − 8 = 3
4. 2 becomes 1 after borrowing
5. Final answer: 13

Solve these:

1. 22 − 5 = ___
2. 23 − 7 = ___
3. 24 − 6 = ___
4. 25 − 8 = ___
5. 26 − 9 = ___

🚪 Mission 3 – Final Escape Puzzle

These are the hardest ones. Think carefully!

1. 31 − 9 = ___
2. 32 − 8 = ___
3. 41 − 7 = ___
4. 52 − 6 = ___

📘 Answers

Mission 1

1. 8
2. 7
3. 7
4. 7
5. 7

Mission 2

1. 17
2. 16
3. 18
4. 17
5. 17

Mission 3

1. 22
2. 24
3. 34
4. 46

💡 Final Message

You escaped the Math Room! Borrowing is tricky at first, but with practice it becomes easy. This skill is very important for solving bigger math problems.

Keep practicing — every step makes you faster and smarter in math.

⬅ Back to Addition with Carry

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Math is like a puzzle game — and you are becoming a master player!

Download Free Worksheet

Download a printable worksheet to practice subtraction with borrowing at home or in the classroom.

Download PDF Worksheet