Strategies to make word problems fun
Relate to Everyday Life: Use scenarios that kids encounter in their daily lives.
Incorporate Interests: Tailor problems to the interests of the children, such as their favorite sports, hobbies, or animals.
Use Visuals: Draw pictures or use props to illustrate the problems.
Interactive Activities: Turn problems into games or hands-on activities.
Storytelling: Frame the problem within a fun and engaging story.
Examples of relatable word problems
The Pet Shop Adventure
Scenario: Emily visits a pet shop and wants to buy some pets.
Problem: Emily has $20. She wants to buy 3 goldfish, which cost $3 each, and a hamster which costs $8. How much money will she have left after buying the pets?
Solution:
Cost of 3 goldfish = 3 goldfish × $3 = $9
Cost of 1 hamster = $8
Total cost = $9 + $8 = $17
Money left = $20 - $17 = $3
The School Bake Sale
Scenario: A class is having a bake sale to raise money for a field trip.
Problem: If they sell 15 cupcakes at $2 each and 10 cookies at $1 each, how much money do they raise in total?
Solution:
Money from cupcakes = 15 cupcakes × $2 = $30
Money from cookies = 10 cookies × $1 = $10
Total money raised = $30 + $10 = $40
The Magical Garden
Scenario: Jack is planting a magical garden where every plant grows double in size each week.
Problem: If Jack plants a sprouting seed that is 1 inch tall, how tall will it be after 3 weeks?
Solution:
Week 1: 1 inch × 2 = 2 inches
Week 2: 2 inches × 2 = 4 inches
Week 3: 4 inches × 2 = 8 inches
The plant will be 8 inches tall after 3 weeks.
The Birthday Party
Scenario: Lily is planning her birthday party and needs to send out invitations.
Problem: Lily has 24 friends, but only has 18 invitation cards. How many more cards does she need to invite all her friends?
Solution:
Total friends = 24
Available cards = 18
Cards needed = 24 - 18 = 6
Lily needs 6 more cards.
The Candy Jar
Scenario: Max has a jar of candies and wants to share them with his friends.
Problem: Max has 50 candies and wants to divide them equally among 5 friends. How many candies will each friend get?
Solution:
Total candies = 50
Number of friends = 5
Candies per friend = 50 ÷ 5 = 10
Each friend will get 10 candies.
Word problem worksheets
We have incorporated word problem worksheets in our math sections for kindergarten to grade 5 for students to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and mixed word problems. We also have worksheets that incorporate irrelevant data for students to carefully think about how to approach each problem.
