70 Fun Math Questions for Kids (K-2)

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 kindergarten, first, and second 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. But, 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 my 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?

Check out the monthly themed math talks, HERE

 

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 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?
• 19 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.  

• 99Math Online Games
• 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

45 April Would You Rather Questions for Kids

January Math Mats for Kids

Fun Math Questions for Kids