math problem solving questions for kindergarten

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Check Out These 50 Kindergarten Math Word Problems of the Day

Sue has 5 markers. Tom has 3 markers.

Opening your daily math lesson with a word problem of the day is an excellent way to set the stage for learning! Incorporate them at the start of your math block to build confidence, critical thinking skills, and a learning community. Students will get used to reading for meaning, while also identifying key information. Encourage students to write out equations and draw pictures to explain their thinking, since this helps them see the light when they are stuck!

Topics in these kindergarten math word problems cover addition, subtraction, comparison, number sense, comparing numbers, and measurement. Want this entire set of kindergarten math word problems in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here . All you need to do is post one of the problems on your whiteboard or projector screen. Then let kids take it from there.

50 Kindergarten Math Word Problems

1. sue has 2 markers. tom has 3 markers. how many markers do they have all together.

2. There are 4 red blocks on the rug. There are 4 yellow blocks on the rug. How many blocks are on the rug in all?

3. Sam has 3 marbles. Tim gave Sam 1 marble. How many marbles does Sam have now?

4. One cat is in the yard. 4 more cats come into the yard. How many cats are in the yard now?

5. Jill had 7 toy cars. She got 3 more for her birthday. How many toy cars does Jill have now?

6. Ava has 2 more books than Lucy. Lucy has 6 books. How many books does Ava have?

7. There are 7 red chairs and 2 green chairs at the table. How many chairs are at the table all together?

8. Pete put 2 pencils in his desk. There were 3 pencils in there already. How many pencils are in Pete’s desk now?

9. Tina has 4 jackets at home and 2 jackets at school. How many jackets does Tina have in all?

10. Bob has 5 more stamps than Bill. Bill has 2 stamps. How many stamps does Bob have?

11. James has 5 flowers. He gives Lisa 3 flowers. How many flowers does James have left?

12. 8 birds were on the playground. 5 birds flew away. How many birds are still on the playground?

13. Karen had 4 peanuts. She ate 3 of them. How many peanuts does Karen have left?

14. There are 6 boxes on the truck. 4 boxes are blue. The rest are green. How many boxes are green?

15. Frank has 7 donuts. If he gives 3 away, how many donuts will he have left?

16. Tim had 5 balls at home. He took 1 ball to school. How many balls did he leave at home?

17. There are 10 pieces of fruit in the bowl. 2 are apples. The rest of the fruit are oranges. How many oranges are in the bowl?

18. Kris has 5 stickers. She gives Dave 4 of her stickers. How many stickers does Kris have left?

19. Lisa drew 4 pictures. Kelly drew 6 pictures. Who drew more pictures? How many more?

20. Malik has 10 balls of clay. He gives 10 of the clay balls to Rob. How many clay balls does Malik have now?

21. Sara wants to make 8 cards. She already made 4 of them. How many more cards does Sara need to make?

22. The class sang 5 songs. They want to sing 10 songs. How many more songs does the class want to sing?

23. Rose had some beads on her bracelet. She got 3 more beads and put them on. Now she has 6 beads all together. How many beads did Rose have at the start?

24. Mr. Jones had 4 pens. He bought some more pens. Now he has 6 pens. How many pens did he buy?

25. Lilly has 3 pink hats, 2 white hats, and 1 purple hat. How many hats does Lilly have in all?

26. Pat has 4 erasers. Ken has 2 erasers. Jason has 2 erasers. How many erasers do they have all together?

27. There were some animals in the barnyard. There were 5 goats, 4 cows, and 1 sheep. How many animals were in the barnyard all together?

28. South Street has some houses on it. 3 houses are blue, 1 house is gray, and 4 houses are white. How many houses are on South Street?

29. Meg has a cat, 2 dogs, and a parrot. How many pets does Meg have?

30. Ken likes to plant trees. He planted 7 pine trees, 2 oak trees, and 0 spruce trees. How many trees did Ken plant all together?

31. Ms. Matho gave her class this pattern and asked them to finish it: 3, 4, 5, 6, __, __. What should the last two numbers be?

32. Ian has a pattern on his shirt. It was blue stripe, red stripe, blue stripe, red stripe. What color is the next stripe?

33. The countdown started. The class called out, “10, 9, 8, 7, 6…” What were the next two numbers they called out?

34. Joan was counting her socks by two’s. She had 4 pair of socks. How many socks is that all together?

35. Faith’s hat has a letter pattern on it. It goes A,B,C, A,B,C. What letter comes after B in the pattern?

36. Larry has 12 stamps. Barry has 11 stamps. Who has more stamps?

37. There were 20 yellow backpacks. There were 19 blue backpacks. Which color were most of the backpacks?

38. Jessica had some crayons. Pam had 15 crayons. Jessica had 2 more crayons than Pam. How many crayons did Jessica have?

39. Stan had 14 pennies. Dave had 9 pennies. Who had less pennies?

40. Beth was 8 years old. Her sister, Lori was 10 years old. Who is older? How much older?

41. The stick was 10 inches long. It was painted red and white. 5 inches of the stick were red. How much of the stick was white?

42. Frisky the cat weighs 6 pounds. Mittens the cat weighs 9 pounds. Which cat weighs more? How much more?

43. 17 is Chan’s lucky number. The number that comes before Chan’s is Ming’s lucky number. What is Ming’s lucky number?

44. The buses are all lined up in number order. The #12 bus is Juan’s bus. What number bus comes right after Juan’s bus?

45. Stacey practiced soccer for 6 hours last week. Emily practiced soccer for 4 hours last week. Who practiced soccer longer? How much longer?

46. Mrs. Tang’s class got 18 new books from the book fair. Mr. Smith’s class got 15 new books from the book fair. Which class got more new books from the book fair?

47. There are 10 children at the lunch table. 4 are boys. The rest are girls. How many children at the lunch table are girls?

48. The doors in the school are in number order. Carol is in Room #11. Delia is in the room right before Carol’s. What room is Delia in?

49. There are 3 boxes. The pink box has 4 balls in it. The orange box has 2 balls in it. The black box has 2 more balls than the pink box. Which box has the most balls? How many are in that box?

50. Jon likes to draw. He does 1 drawing every day after school. How many drawings does he do every week?

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• Kindergarten Math Worksheets

Building a Strong Mathematical Foundation: Empowering Children from the Start

Learning fundamental math in kindergarten is crucial. It builds confidence and prepares children for more advanced concepts. Our kindergarten math category includes worksheets for early stages and slightly more advanced levels. They cover numbers, counting, measurement, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, we offer free worksheets on addition, subtraction, fractions, place value, graphs, and patterns. These materials are designed to be both fun and educational. You can use all our free math worksheets online, except for the premium collection. They serve as valuable tools for parents and teachers.

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Our math worksheets are designed to be convenient for educators and families. We offer three options to access our free worksheets. You can download the PDF file, print it from your browser, or use the online version of our kindergarten worksheets. These options allow you to save, print, or complete our worksheets directly on our website. By providing these flexible options, we aim to make learning math accessible, convenient, and engaging for teachers, parents, and kids.

Kindergarten Numbers Worksheets

• Color By Number Worksheet
• Numbers 1 to 5 Worksheet
• Numbers 6 to 10 Worksheet
• Coloring Numbers Worksheet
• Color by Code Worksheet
• Identifying Numbers Worksheet
• Number Match Worksheet
• Practice Writing Numbers Worksheet
• Preschool Numbers Worksheet
• Prime Numbers Worksheet
• Snail Number Match Worksheet
• Traceable Numbers Worksheet
• Count and Match Numbers Worksheet
• Number One Worksheet
• Number Two Worksheet
• Number Three Worksheet
• Number Four Worksheet
• Number Five Worksheet
• Number Six Worksheet
• Number Seven Worksheet
• Number Eight Worksheet
• Number Nine Worksheet
• Number Ten Worksheet
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Kindergarten Addition Worksheets

• Animal Picture Addition Worksheet
• Color by Addition Worksheet
• Column Addition with Pictures Worksheet
• Spin the Wheel Addition Worksheet
• Flower Picture Addition Worksheet
• Easy Column Addition Worksheet
• Simple Word Problem Addition Worksheet
• Fruit Picture Addition Worksheet
• Column Addition Worksheet
• Olympics Math Worksheet
• Cats Picture Addition Worksheet
• Bug Picture Addition Worksheet
• Fact Family Worksheet
• Adding Pictures Worksheet
• Add and Match Picture Addition Worksheet

Kindergarten Subtraction Worksheets

• Basic Subtraction with Pictures Worksheet
• Column Subtraction with Birds Worksheet
• Subtraction Worksheet with Pictures
• Starfish Subtraction Worksheet
• Fruit Picture Subtraction Worksheet
• Animal Picture Subtraction Worksheet
• Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Dinosaur Column Subtraction Worksheet
• Simple Subtraction Word Problem Worksheet
• Dinosaur Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Ladybug Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Ice Cream Subtraction Worksheet

Kindergarten Shapes Worksheets

• Circle Worksheet
• Square Worksheet
• Rectangle Worksheet
• Triangle Worksheet
• Shapes Recognition Worksheet

Kindergarten Counting Worksheets

• Counting Baby Chicks Worksheet
• Counting Lesson Worksheet
• Counting Cats Worksheet
• Counting Dogs Worksheet
• Count and Color Worksheet
• Caterpillar Missing Number Worksheet
• Chicken Missing Numbers Worksheet
• Animal Counting Worksheet
• Space Counting Worksheet
• Spaceship Missing Numbers Worksheet
• Ten-Tastic Counting Worksheet
• Before and After Numbers Worksheet

Kindergarten More or Less Worksheets

• Picture Comparison Worksheet
• Comparing Numbers from 1 to 10 Worksheet
• More or Less Activity Worksheet
• Comparison Worksheet
• More or Less Number Worksheet
• Comparing Numbers Worksheet
• Butterflies More or Less Worksheet

Kindergarten Measurement Worksheets

• Measuring Height Worksheet
• Measuring Length with a Ruler Worksheet
• Weight Measurement Worksheet
• Weight Comparison Worksheet
• Animal Measurement Worksheet
• Inches Worksheet
• Heavier or Lighter Worksheet
• Capacity Worksheet
• Metric Measurement Worksheet
• Pound Measurement Worksheet

Kindergarten Patterns Worksheets

• Geometry Patterns Worksheet
• Animal Patterns Worksheet
• Number Patterns Worksheet

Kindergarten Making 10 Worksheets

• Adding to 10 Worksheet
• Color by Making 10 Worksheet
• Caterpillar Making 10 Game Worksheet
• Spin the Wheel Making 10 Worksheet
• Let's Make 10 Worksheet

Kindergarten Place Value Worksheets

• Apple Place Value Worksheet
• Tens and Ones Worksheet
• Egg Place Value Worksheet

Kindergarten Graphs Worksheets

• Farm Animals Bar Graph Worksheet
• Dinosaur Bar Graph Worksheet
• Flower Bar Graph Worksheet
• Fish Bar Graph Worksheet
• Seashell Bar Graph Worksheet
• Animal Coordinates Worksheet
• Insect Coordinates Worksheet
• Line Graph Worksheet

Kindergarten Fractions Worksheets

• Equal Parts Worksheet Printable
• Matching Halves of Shapes Worksheet
• Draw the Other Half of Shapes Worksheet
• Halves Worksheet
• Fractions Worksheet

Kindergarten Time Worksheets

• Telling Time Worksheet
• Matching Clocks Worksheet
• Cut-and-Paste Time Worksheet

Main Categories of Kindergarten Worksheets

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• Kindergarten Math Problems
• Kindergarten Math

MathPyramid has created a variety of options for practicing kindergarten math problems. We have printable worksheets, free online math games, and you can also follow the kindergarten math curriculum as part of your homeschool math curriculum or to supplement what your student learns at school. Our math worksheets start out with simple addition and subtraction, but also include some printable games. The online Timed Tests and Flashcard Games help students improve their math skills while playing. As most people know, practice makes perfect when it comes to math, so encourage your student practice often.

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Free Math Worksheets — Over 100k free practice problems on Khan Academy

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50 Math Problems for Kindergarteners

Practice your math skills with these 50 math problems for kindergarteners , covering counting, addition, subtraction, place value, measurement, and geometry! Answers included.

Author Michelle Griczika

Published November 6, 2023

Published Nov 6, 2023

Key takeaways

• In kindergarten, mastering counting and understanding the basics of addition and subtraction set the foundation for future mathematical concepts.
• Utilizing visual aids, like ten frames and shape recognition, can significantly aid in understanding numbers and geometric shapes.
• Consider using our math app to supplement your child’s kindergarten math skills.

Table of contents

• Key Takeaways
• Addition and Subtraction
• Place Value
• Measurement

Get ready to take on 50 kindergarten math problems ! These exercises are designed to help young learners develop essential math skills while exploring counting, basic addition and subtraction, shape recognition, place value, and measurement in a fun and interactive way. 

We’ve put together 50 engaging math problems for kindergarten to prepare your young learner! These exercises cover five essential skills that every kindergartner needs to master before stepping into first grade. They include:

• Counting : a foundational skill introduced in kindergarten.
• Addition and Subtraction : which start to build numerical skills in kindergarten.
• Place Value: designed to set a strong foundation for the basis of our number system.
• Basic Measurements : introduced to help kindergarten students understand size and comparisons.
• Shape Recognition : a key area designed to help kindergarteners identify basic shapes.

From geometry problems to counting practice, we have a mixture of kindergarten math word problems for your child to practice at home. Once you are done, check your work with our answer sheet.

 Let’s dive in!

Section 1: Counting

Counting helps us understand numbers and how many things we have, like siblings or how many steps we take.

Section 2: Addition & Subtraction

Adding numbers helps us combine different amounts to find the sum, giving us the result of putting them together. Subtraction allows us to see the difference between two numbers by subtracting one value from another, helping us understand the remaining amount.

Section 3: Place Value

Ten frames show us the value of each digit in a number, helping us understand how they add up to make a bigger number.

1. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

2. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

3. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

4. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

5. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

6. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

7. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

8. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

9. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

10. Look at the ten frames. What number do you see?

Section 4: Measurement

When we measure things, we use the words’ bigger’ and ‘smaller’ to compare them and see which is larger or smaller in size, amount, or value.

1. Which polar bear is bigger?

2. Which snake is bigger?

3. Which Cat is bigger?

4. Which octopus is bigger?

5. Which penguin is bigger?

6. Which frog is smaller?

7. Which turtle is smaller?

8. Which Eagle is smaller?

9. Which Parrot is smaller?

10. Which leopard is smaller?

Section 5: Geometry

We can identify and name different shapes by looking at their features, such as the number of sides and how they are arranged.

1. Name the shape.

2. Name the shape.

3. Name the shape.

4. Name the shape.

5. Name the shape.

6. Name the shape.

7. Name the shape.

8. Name the shape.

9. Name the shape.

10. Name the shape.

Lesson credits

Michelle Griczika

Michelle Griczika is a seasoned educator and experienced freelance writer. Her years teaching first and fifth grades coupled with her double certification in elementary and early childhood education lend depth to her understanding of diverse learning stages. Michelle enjoys running in her free time and undertaking home projects.

Parents, sign up for a DoodleMath subscription and see your child become a math wizard!

Place Value Answer Sheet

Measurement Answer Sheet

Geometry answer sheet.

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Kindergarten

Unit 1: counting and place value, unit 2: addition and subtraction, unit 3: measurement and geometry.

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70 Fun Math Questions for Kids

Are you looking for fun math questions to ask your kids? If so, this list is a great way to get started.

Here, you will find a combination of word problems, brain teasers, and grade level math talks for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.

Kids used to think of a math question as a trick – being nearly impossible to find the correct answer or solve the math equation how they were expected to.

With the new wave of mathematic standards, teachers are finding a creative way to encourage and support kids through difficult problems.

Kindergarten Math Questions

Basic math skills start prior to kindergarten. Sorting and counting with your kids are the best ways to begin teaching the basic concept of number sense.  

During early kindergarten, young kids find math fun.

A typical kindergarten curriculum will start off with classic games to teach shapes, position words, a simple number sequence, and numbers to 5. 

Towards the second half of the year, kindergarten aged students will begin learning problem solving with addition and subtraction. 

Kindergarten Math Talk Questions

Here are some examples of the questions used in the Kindergarten Math Talks for the first half of the school year.

These math talks are the perfect way to get the kids engaged in good conversations about any math concept.

• How many crayons can fit in a box?
• How many wheels are on a bus?
• Estimate how many tissues are in a box.
• How many books can you fit in your backpack?
• Look around the room.  How many chairs do you see?
• A gingerbread man has two eyes.  If there were 4 gingerbread men, how many eyes would there be?
• Tell me a number more than 4 and less than 11.
• How many colors are in the rainbow?
• There are 3 friends playing in the rain.  How many rainboots do they need?
• How many pockets are you wearing today?
• Which would you rather use to measure a Christmas tree: a roll of ribbon, or a candy cane? Why?

Kindergarten Addition and Subtraction Story Problems:

Below are some simple story problems for a math lesson to review basic math facts. 

🔢 Noah has eight pop-its and Elijah has two pop-its. How many pop-its do they have all together?

🔢 Three red marbles and three green marbles are on the table. How many marbles are on the table?

🔢 There are four small marshmallows and two big marshmallows. How many marshmallows are there all together?

🔢 Ben has four peaches. Sarah has three peaches. How many peaches do they have in all?

🔢 William has three oranges. Michael has four more oranges than William. How many oranges does Michael have?

🔢 James has three marbles. James gives two marbles to Mason. How many marbles does James have left now?

🔢 William has equal toys as Bobby. Bobby has two toys. How many toys does William have?

🔢 Four marbles are in the basket. Three are red and the rest are green. How many marbles are green?

🔢 Ben has 8 crayons. He gives 7 crayons to Mia. How many crayons does Ben have left?

🔢 Brad has seven rocks. Noah has five fewer rocks than Brad. How many rocks does Noah have?

🔢 Two pizzas are on the table. If 4 kids eat pizza, how much will be left? How do you know?

🔢 Nine balls are in the basket. Three balls are taken out of the basket. How many balls are left in the basket?

🔢 Nineteen peaches are on the table. Then Allison bumps into the table, and six peaches fall off. How many peaches are left on the table?

First Grade Fun Math Questions

In 1st grade, the math teacher will review the basic math facts, such as identifying and writing numbers to 20, counting sets of objects, one more one less, and tens frames.

Throughout the year, easy math riddles and fun games can be used as a fun way to teach math.

Here are samples from the open-ended math talk cards in the First Grade Math Talks bundle. They are perfect for kids who have a hard time with problem-solving skills.

As they hear their peers express their strategies, it gives them strategies without feeling they have to solve hard math problems.

The most important part of teaching math in elementary school is to encourage critical thinking – not the traditional “only one way to solve a problem” thinking.  

First Grade Math Talk Questions

Here are some examples from the First Grade Math Talk collection. 

Again, these are open-ended math questions to focus more on problem solving and critical thinking rather than a right/wrong answer. 

🔢 It’s time to play a board game. Which spinner do you want? The one with 2 numbers, or the spinner with 6 numbers. Why?

🔢 Which takes more snow to build: One igloo or 20 snowballs?

🔢 What is a number more than 50 and less than 62?

🔢 What do you notice about this number sequence: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35?

🔢 We have a box of 25 crayons. Is that even or odd?

🔢 Which would take less time: cleaning your room or reading a book?

🔢 What shapes do you see around the classroom?

1st Grade Addition Story Problems:

🔢 In the fridge, there are 4 stacks of chocolate puddings, 7 stacks of brownies, and 5 stacks of pasta salad. How many stacks of dessert are there?

🔢 There are 9 pots of noodle soup and 8 pots of vegetable soup. How many pots of soup are there?

🔢 There are 4 girls on the swings and 6 boys on the slide. How many kids are on the playground?

🔢 We are going on a field trip. 15 kids packed sandwiches. 3 kids packed lunchables. How many lunches will we take on the field trip?

🔢 Write the addition sentence that fits this: “Skyler read 15 books. 7 were Dogman books, and 8 were Junie B. Jones books.”

1st Grade Telling Time Questions:

🔢 School starts at 9 o’clock in the morning and ends 6 hours later. What time does school end?

🔢 The second recess is at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, which is 2 hours after the first recess. When is the first recess?

🔢 The principal started a meeting on Monday at 10 o’clock in the morning. The meeting ended at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. How long was the meeting?

🔢 All students left the school at 3 o’clock. The teacher stayed for 3 more hours. When did the teacher leave school?

🔢 The kids went on a field trip at 9:00 am. It took them 2 hours to see everything and get back to school. What time do you think they got back?

1st Grade Measurement Questions:

There are measurement questions in each set of the First Grade Math Talks . 

Those questions are open-ended and are based on the pictures used on the cards and slides. 

The questions below, however, are more straight forward and are asking for a specific answer. 

🔢 Jacob’s scissors are 7 inches long. Sean’s scissors are 2 inches shorter than Jacob’s. How long are Sean’s scissors?

🔢 Their mother gives the boys two pieces of strings to use. Sean’s string is 8 inches long and Jacob’s is 5 inches long. What is the total length of their strings?

🔢 The yellow crayon is used up more than the grey crayon. The grey crayon is 3 inches longer than the yellow crayon. If the yellow crayon is 1 inch long, how long is the grey crayon?

🔢 Holden’s stick is 9 inches long, and Brooklyn’s stick is 5 inches long. Who has a longer stick?

🔢 There are 3 tubes of paint. The blue one is 5 inches long. The red one is 3 inches long, and the yellow one is 7 inches long. How much longer is the yellow one compared to the blue one?

🔢 There are two glue sticks. The longer one is 5 inches long. The shorter one is 2 inches shorter. How long is the shorter glue stick?

Second Grade Math Questions

Here are sample questions from the Second Grade Math Talk Collection:

• The train arrives at the North Pole at 9pm.  If it takes 5 hours to get there, what time should we leave?
• What is 640 in expanded form?  What other number can you make using the numerals 6, 4, and 0?
• Which would you buy?  A dozen large donuts for $6.00 or 2 dozen mini donuts for $7.00?
• We have 20 pieces of candy.  Some pieces are blue and some are orange.  How many can we have of each?
• Tell me an equation that equals your age.

Second Grade Fractions:

• There are 15 goldfish in the aquarium. 4 goldfish are orange, and 11 are silver in color. What fraction of the fish are silver?
• There are 5 rabbits on display. 3 of the rabbits are white and 2 of them are grey. What fraction of rabbits are grey?
• There are 6 cats waiting to be adopted. 4 of them are kittens. What fraction of the cats are kittens?
• There are 9 packs of pet food on the shelf. 5 of them are for cats and the rest of them are for dogs. What fraction of the food is for dogs?
• The pet store has 8 people working there. Two eighths of the people are working in the grooming center. Three eighths of them are working at the cashier. The rest of them are helping customers in the store. How many staff members are helping customers?

2nd Grade Money Counting Problems:

• Lucas has 2 one-dollar bills, 3 dimes and 3 nickels. How much money does Lucas have?
• Scarlett has $5.60, and her sister gives her 2 quarters. How much money does Scarlett have?
• Owen has $2.35, and he spends 1 dime and 3 nickels. How much money does he have?
• Ethan has 1 five-dollar bill and 4 quarters. After he spends 60 cents, how much money does he have?
• Ella has 4 one-dollar bills, 3 quarters and 5 dimes. Logan has 1 five-dollar bill and 1 nickel. Who has more money?
• Dan has 2 one-dollar bills, 1 quarter and 2 dimes. Joe has 3 one-dollar bills and 3 nickels. After Joe gives Dan all his coins, who has less money?

2nd Grade Addition and Subtraction Questions:

• The plastic Christmas tree comes in 3 parts. The bottom part has 8 branches. The middle part has 6 branches, and the top part has 4 branches. How many branches are there in total?
• We have 9 strings of silver lights, and 6 strings of gold lights.  2 silver light strings are broken. How many good light strings are left?
• Last week, we bought two boxes of pop-its. Each box has 4 red pop-its, and 4 blue pop-its.  How many pop-its do we have?
• A string of lights has 16 light bulbs, but 8 of them are broken. Jack only has 4 replacement bulbs. How many light bulbs are working?
• In a box of candy, there are nine candy bars and nine ring pops.  Three of the ring pops broke.  How many pieces of candy do we have left?
• Write the number sentence that fits this: “Jack made 5 ornaments to hang on the tree and Emma made 9 ornaments to hang on the tree. Emma made 4 more ornaments than Jack.”

Fun Math Games for Kids

Here is a small collection of games to practice math. There are easy math trivia questions, math apps, logic puzzles, magic squares and more.  

• Magic Magnetic Building Blocks
• Magic Square Puzzle Activity Book
• Easy Math Riddles for Smart Kids
• Numbers Bingo Game
• Magnetic Pizza Fractions

Before you go, here are math posts you will enjoy:

The Best Kindergarten Math Assessment

How to Teach Composing and Decomposing Numbers

Benefits of Math Talks for Kids

22 Best Educational Apps for Kids

Introducing Math Talks for Kids

Fun Math Questions for Kids

Welcome to Little Learning Corner

We encourage play, nature, and learning for kids (PreK-1st). Click here to learn more about me.

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Awesome Math Strategies for Kindergarten and the 6 Questions to Ask Your Small Group

Teaching math strategies in kindergarten may be easier than you think. Here are the top math strategies for kindergarten that you can use in your lessons and the questions you should be asking.

I’ve got everything I’m sharing with you today wrapped up in my Guided Math Pack for kindergarten . That way you can use these math strategies for kindergarten easily.

What are math strategies in kindergarten

You should know that these math strategies for kindergarten came from the Kindergarten Common Core Standards . There is a whole section called “ Mathematical Practice ” that lists the standards below.

Now hang with me. Here are the standards as they are written out. They are {ahem} super exciting so I won’t be offended if you just want to jump past this list.

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Attend to precision.
• Look for and make use of structure.
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

Now, if you ask me – these are hardly kindergarten friendly.

But, as I planned out my guided math curriculum for kindergarten  I realized that I needed to make use of them. I was supposed to be teaching them, after all.

How I made them kid-friendly

In order to make use of those silly-stated standards, I desperately needed to make them more kinder-friendly. So each standard got rephrased into a strategy or approach that we could actually use.

For example,

• “Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others” became “tell and explain”
• “Attend to precision” became “check my work”

And those kinder-friendly phrases became go-to things for me.

I’m not kidding. Since I was introducing and using them during small group lessons , I was able to refer to them regularly and prompt students with them.

How you can use pictures to teach strategies

Since I work with beginning readers and non-readers in kindergarten, I made icons or symbols for each strategy. This works on the same principle as illustrating  guided reading strategies .

I turned each strategy into posters and cards.

These were integrated into the math prompts my students did in our math journals . They would practice one strategy each time – at the same time as working on content.

Questions to ask your small math groups

What do these math strategies mean for teaching in small groups?

Well, that meant I had questions I could ask.

• “How can you show what you are thinking?”
• “What tools did you use to figure this out?”
• “Tell us about your thinking. What did you notice?”
• “What would make good sense?”
• “What could you try?”
• “What do you notice?”

Rather than tell my students what to do – or how to solve – I could ask questions to help direct their thinking.

I added these math strategies for kindergarten right into my lesson plan templates too.

If you like these math strategies for kindergarten all done for you – you can get the:

• strategy posters and cards
• guiding questions to ask based on the strategies
• math journals prompts with strategies listed
• lesson plan templates with strategies listed

all in the Guided Math Pack !

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

More Guided Math

• Differentiate Math Easier with the Guided Math Pack for Kindergarten
• How to Start Guided Math
• 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Getting Started With Guided Math

Leslie is the teacher behind KindergartenWorks . She believes in teaching kinders how to be pretty incredible along with teaching them to read, write and think for themselves. She enjoys drinking hot tea, making mud pies with her four kids and sharing what she's learned with teachers.

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Kindergarten Math is Often Too Basic. Here’s Why That’s a Problem

This article was originally published in The Hechinger Report.

ASTON, Pa.— In Jodie Murphy’s kindergarten class, math lessons go beyond the basics of counting and recognizing numbers.

On a recent morning, the children used plastic red and yellow dots for a counting exercise: One student tossed the coin-sized dots onto a cookie sheet while another hid her eyes. The second student then opened her eyes, counted up the dots and picked the corresponding number from a stack of cards.

The dots showed up again a few minutes later in a more complex task. Murphy set a two-minute timer, and students counted as many dot arrays as they could, adding or taking away dots to match a corresponding written number. Four dots next to a printed number 6, for example, meant that students had to draw in two extra dots — an important precursor to learning addition.

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Kindergarten may be math’s most important year — it lays the groundwork for understanding the relationship between number and quantity and helps develop “number sense,” or how numbers relate to each other, experts and researchers say.

But too often teachers spend that crucial year reinforcing basic information students may already know.  Research shows  that many kindergarteners learn early on how to count and recognize basic shapes — two areas that make up the majority of kindergarten math content. Though basic math content is crucial for students who begin school with little math knowledge, a growing body of research argues more comprehensive kindergarten math instruction that moves beyond counting could help more students become successful in math later on.

Because so many students nationally are  struggling in math  — a longstanding challenge made worse by remote schooling during the pandemic — experts and educators say more emphasis needs to be put on foundational, early childhood math. But for a variety of reasons, kindergarten often misses the mark: Math takes a backseat to literacy, teachers are often unprepared to teach it, and appropriate curriculum, if it exists at all, can be scattershot, overly repetitive — or both.

Manipulating numbers in different ways, part of a supplemental math curriculum for Murphy’s whole class at Hilltop Elementary in this suburb of Philadelphia, is an attempt to address those problems. In an effort to improve math achievement district-wide, all elementary students in the Chichester School District get an extra 30-minute daily dose of math. In kindergarten, the extra time is spent on foundational skills like understanding numbers and quantity, but also the basics of addition and subtraction, said Diana Hanobeck, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction.

Chichester district leaders say implementing the intervention, called  SpringMath , along with other steps that include hiring a math specialist for each school, has brought urgent attention to students’ math achievement by bringing more students to mastery — and a lot of that has to do with how much students are learning in kindergarten. Student math achievement, which dropped to a low of 13.5 percent of students proficient or advanced during the pandemic,  has more than doubled  across grades since the intervention began, although still below the state average. Last spring, 47 percent of the district’s fourth graders were proficient or advanced in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test.

“The intervention is very targeted by skill and gives teachers data for each student,” said Hanobeck. “We are seeing it close gaps for students, and they are more able to access elementary school math.”

Murphy, the kindergarten teacher, said that while some students arrive at school able to do “rote counting,” others arrive with no prior knowledge or a very limited understanding of numbers and counting. The interventions have improved all students’ accuracy and fluency in more complex tasks, such as being able to count up or down from a number like 16 or 20, and adding and subtracting numbers up to 5.

“It used to take all year for some students to count on from different starting points, that’s actually really hard for kids to do,” Murphy said. “Students are meeting their goals far faster now. We are moving on, but also moving deeper.”

That deep thought is important, even in the earliest grades. Kindergarten math proficiency is especially predictive of future academic success in all subjects including reading, research has shown. In one study, students’  number competence  in kindergarten — which includes the ability to understand number quantities, their relationships to each other, and the ability to join and separate sets of numbers, like 4 and 2 making 6 — presaged mathematical achievement in third grade, with greater number competence leading to higher math achievement.

It’s also the time when learning gaps between students are at their smallest, and it’s easier to put all students on equal footing. “Kindergarten is crucial,” said University of Oregon math education researcher Ben Clarke. “It’s well-documented in the research literature that gaps start early, grow over time and essentially become codified and very hard to remediate.”

But the math content commonly found in kindergarten — such as counting the days on a calendar — is often embedded within a curriculum “in which the teaching of mathematics is secondary to other learning goals,”  according to a report  from the National Academies of Science. “Learning experiences in which mathematics is a supplementary activity rather than the primary focus are less effective” in building student math skills than if math is the main goal, researchers wrote.

The math students are taught in kindergarten often progresses no further than basic counting and shapes. In a  2013 study , researcher and University of Colorado Boulder associate professor Mimi Engel found that students who spent more time on the advanced concepts in kindergarten learned more math. Engel hypothesizes that exposure to more advanced content in kindergarten may help students in later grades when content grows more complex.

“We want some amount of repetition across grades in content,” Engel said. “There’s variation in kids’ skill sets when they start kindergarten, and, as a teacher, there are a number of reasons why you want to start with the basics, and scaffold instruction. But what I’m interested in is: when does repetition become redundancy?”

According to researcher Amanda VanDerHeyden, founder of SpringMath, breaking numbers apart and putting them back together and understanding how numbers relate to each other does more to help develop kindergarteners’ mathematical thinking than counting alone. Students should move from using concrete objects to model problems, to using representations of those objects and then to numbers in the abstract — like understanding that the number 3 is a symbol for three objects.

To improve students’ math skills, some schools and districts have recently upgraded the math curriculum and materials teachers use, so they are able to build increasingly complex skills in an organized, orderly way.

Kindergarteners in Hailey Lang’s classroom at Dr. William Burrus Elementary School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, were recently counting penguins — a digital whiteboard showed a photo of a mother penguin with seven fuzzy babies in tow.

“Can we make a math drawing about this picture? No details, you can just use little circles,” Lang said. Students drew one big circle and seven smaller circles on their papers to represent the penguins. Then they translated the circles into a number sentence: 1 (big circle) + 7 (small circles) = 8.

The lesson is new to students this year since they adopted the Eureka Math curriculum. It’s what Sumner County Superintendent Scott Langford calls “high-quality” instructional material, with lessons that move students beyond simply counting objects like penguins. Students look at penguins in a picture, translate them into representational circle drawings, then finally move on to their abstract number quantities.

Sumner County elementary coordinator Karen Medana said she appreciates the fact that the curriculum offers explicit guidance for teachers and builds on a sequence of skills.

One reason for redundancy in kindergarten math may be that classrooms lack cohesive materials that progress students through skills in an orderly way. A 2023 report from the Center for Education Market Dynamics showed that only  36 percent of elementary schools  use high-quality instructional materials, as defined by EdReports, a nonprofit organization that evaluates curricula for rigor, coherence and usability. Eureka Math is one of several math programs that meet EdReports’ standards.

Often teachers are left to gather their own math materials outside the school’s curriculum. The  Brookings Institution reports  that large numbers of teachers use a district-approved curriculum as “one resource among many.” Nearly all teachers say they gather resources from the internet and sites like Teachers Pay Teachers — meaning what students learn varies widely, not only from district to district, but from classroom to classroom.

What students learn might not even be aligned from one grade to another. In a new, unpublished paper still in revision, researcher Engel found “notable inconsistencies” between pre-K and kindergarten classroom math content and how it is taught in New York City schools. Engel said results suggest that in many classrooms, kindergarten math might be poorly aligned with both pre-K and elementary school.

When teachers have access to well-aligned materials, students may learn more. At Marcus Hook Elementary, a Title I elementary school in the Chichester District, kindergarten teacher Danielle Adler’s students were deep into first grade addition, using numbers up to 12. They had already completed all the SpringMath kindergarten math skills in March, so she let them keep going.

“In the past we did focus more on counting, recognizing numbers and counting numbers,” Adler said, “But over the last three years I’ve seen the kids’ skills grow tremendously. Not only what they’re expected to do, but what they’re capable of doing has grown.”

What kindergarteners are expected to do at school has changed dramatically over the last 30 years, including more time spent on academic content. Adler and other kindergarten teachers agree that they hold higher expectations for today’s students, spend more time on teacher-directed instruction and substantially less time on  “art, music, science and child-selected activities.”

Some worry that increasing time spent on academic subjects like math, and pushing kindergarten students beyond the basics of numbers and counting, will be viewed as unpleasant “work” that takes away from play-based learning and is just not appropriate for 5- and 6-year-olds, some of whom are still learning how to hold a pencil.

Engel said kindergarteners can be taught more advanced content and are ready to learn it. But it should be taught using practices shown to work for young children, including small group work, hands-on work with objects such as blocks that illustrate math concepts, and learning through play.

Mathematician John Mighton, the founder of the curriculum JUMP Math, said it’s a mistake to believe that evidence-based instructional practices must be laborious and dull to be effective. He has  called on adults  to think more like children to make more engaging math lessons.

“Children love repetition, exploring small variations on a theme and incrementally harder challenges much more than adults do,” he wrote — all practices supported by evidence to increase learning.

Simple lessons, when done well, can teach complex ideas and get children excited.

“People say kids don’t have the attention,” to learn more advanced concepts, he said, but he strongly believes that children have more math ability than adults give them credit for. Getting students working together, successfully tackling a series of challenges that build on each other, can create a kind of  collective effervescence  — a feeling of mutual energy and harmony that occurs when people work toward a common goal.

That energy overflowed in Adler’s classroom, for example, as students excitedly colored in graphs showing how many addition problems they got correct, and proudly showed off how the number correct had grown over time.

VanDerHeyden pointed out that, for young kids, much of a math intervention should look and feel like a game.

It’s often harder than it looks to advance kindergarten skills while keeping the fun — elementary teachers often say they have low confidence in their own abilities to do math or to teach it.  Research suggests  that teachers who are less confident in math might not pay enough attention to how students are learning, or even spend less time on math in class.

Teachers like Murphy have made some tweaks geared to engaging students. In class she calls SpringMath “math games,” and refers to timed fluency tests as “math races.” She even turned choosing a partner into a game, by spinning a wheel to see who students will get.

“We can do all these little things so they’re having fun while they’re learning,” Murphy said.

This story was originally published on  The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education

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Whether you struggle with hard-to-hear dialogue or want more room-filling audio, here's your fix — and it's on mega-sale.

Hurricane season deal alert: Score two bright, water-resistant flashlights on sale for $6 each

These Goldilocks gizmos will keep you outage-ready, fans say: 'The size is just right, not too big or too small.'

Google’s generative AI fails 'will slowly erode our trust in Google'

Google's generative AI flubs could erode consumer trust in the company that's synonymous with finding accurate information online.

Sony pulls fabricated 'interview' with Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann

Sony removed an "interview" it conducted with head of Naughty Dog Neil Druckmann after he pointed out it was full of fabricated quotes.

Who knew you could weed your yard without bending over?

Say goodbye to back pain: This clever stand-up tool will change the way you groom your grass. Just stick it in, step on the head and twist.

MLB integrates Negro Leagues stats in historic move, Angel Hernandez retires, Craig Counsell returns

Jake Mintz is joined by Russell Dorsey to talk about the historic integration of Negro League stats into the Major League record book. Later, Jake is joined by Bailey Freeman to discuss Angel Hernandez retiring & Craig Counsell’s return to Milwaukee.

What is gap insurance?

If you're among the majority of people who aren't sure what gap insurance is, here's all the information you need to make an informed decision.

Shoppers say this $19 serum makes lashes fuller and healthier — and it's the lowest price we've seen all year

Blink and you'll miss this super sale: 'I get so many compliments now,' says a five-star fan.

UConn's Alex Karaban withdraws from 2024 NBA Draft to return for junior season

Karaban averaged over 13 points a game for the Huskies and is the only returning starter for the two-time defending national champs.