Number Bonds Rainbow — to 5 — free printable diagram

All the number bonds to 5

A rainbow-facts diagram shows every pair of numbers that adds up to 5, each pair joined by a coloured arc. There are 3 arcs — 0 + 5, 1 + 4 and 2 + 3 — and knowing them is what makes adding and subtracting within 5 quick rather than counted.

Total

5

Arcs in the rainbow

3

First pair

0 + 5

Last pair

2 + 3

The middle two

2 + 3 = 5

Written as number sentences

6 of them, counting 1 + 4 and 4 + 1 separately

• Each arc is one fact read two ways: 1 + 4 = 5 and 4 + 1 = 5, because adding can be done in either order. That is why there are 3 arcs but 6 number sentences.
• Every pair follows the same rule — pick any number a from 0 to 5, and its partner is 5 − a. The two always add back to 5.
• 5 is odd, so no number is its own partner and there is no double in this rainbow. The two middle numbers are as close as a pair gets: 2 + 3 = 5.
• Each bond carries two subtraction facts with it. From 1 + 4 = 5 you also get 5 − 1 = 4 and 5 − 4 = 1, which is why these are worth knowing by heart rather than working out.
• In a rainbow diagram the arcs are nested longest to shortest, and that shape IS the pattern: as the number on the left goes up by one, its partner on the right comes down by one, so every pair still totals 5.