Addition Problems for Kids in Beginning Math

How to Help Your Child Practice Addition Problems

For simple and straightforward addition review, you can have your child complete addition worksheets, or use flashcards. However, these activities may not hold your child's attention. If that's the case, you may want to use alternative ways to review addition, such as word problems.

Word problems may be more interesting to your child because they feature real-world situations. This can help your child understand the connection between schoolwork and the real world. You can make word problems even more intriguing to your child by incorporating some of his personal interests. For instance, if your son or daughter really likes dogs, you might formulate a problem that asks your child to add up all the ears in a room filled with seven chihuahuas.

You also can show your child how math is applied in the real-world by taking him on a shopping trip. While loading up your grocery cart, you might ask your child to add up the total number of canned items you're planning to buy.

Addition is generally covered in first and second grade. First graders tend to work with numbers up to 100, while second graders work with numbers up to 1,000. Be sure the problems you create reflect the level that your child is at since it can sometimes be discouraging to kids when they're given a problem that's too difficult.

Addition Problems

Drills

1. 8 + 2

2. 15 + 9

3. 80 + 21

4. 27 + 4

Word Problems

1. Tom has $42 and finds eight more. How much money does he have in all?

In all, Tom has $50 because 42 + 8 = 50. It may be helpful to teach your child patterns that reoccur in addition problems. For instance, 2 + 8 = 10; this pattern can be applied to larger numbers, as seen in this problem. If your child can instantly recognize these patterns, he will be able to solve problems more quickly and easily.

2. At the zoo, there are two lizards, five turtles and three birds in an exhibit. How many reptiles are there in all?

This problem may be challenging for some kids because it requires them to analyze the information; they can't simply add the numbers in the problem. They should only add the number of lizards and turtles (2 + 5), so there are seven reptiles in all.