Opening your daily math lesson with a Math Word Problem of the Day is an excellent way to set the stage for learning. We all know that word problems are difficult for young learners to grasp, even when the mathematical operation portion of the problem is basic.
Incorporate these first grade math word problems one day at a time at the start of your math block to build confidence, critical thinking skills, and a learning community. Students will get used to reading slowly 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 covered include addition, subtraction, multiplication, and comparison. All you need to do is post one of these first grade math word problems on your whiteboard or projector screen. Then let kids take it from there!
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50 First Grade Math Word Problems
1. I had 6 pencils, and my teacher gave me 4 more. How many pencils do I have now?
2. Gina’s dog got 3 treats on Sunday and 0 treats on Monday. How many treats did Gina’s puppy get in all?
3. Joel went to the zoo with his family. During the first hour he was there he saw a bear, 2 tigers, and 3 lions. How many animals did Joel see in his first hour at the zoo?
4. Jackson sorted his toy cars by color. He has 6 blue cars, 5 green cars, and 4 black cars. How many cars does Jackson have in all?
5. Ben has 2 green balloons and 4 yellow balloons. How many balloons does he have altogether?
6. There are 3 kids in the Clark family. Tina is 3, Joshua is 4, and Samantha is 7. If you add up all their ages, what is the sum of the Clark kids?
7. If you go for a swim and 6 of your friends come along, how many friends are swimming in total?
8. Rachel’s mom had some flowers in a vase. 3 of the flowers wilted and Rachel’s mom took them out of the vase. Now there are 5 flowers in the vase. How many flowers were in the vase to start with?
9. Hayden’s cat had a litter of kittens. 3 kittens were gray, 2 kittens were spotted, and 7 kittens were black. How many kittens did Hayden’s cat have?
10. Pedro brought in 3 red leaves and 6 yellow leaves from the playground. How many leaves does he have in all?
11. Gabriella read 3 books on Monday, 6 books on Tuesday, and 4 books on Wednesday. How many books did Gabriella read in all?
12. If you have 3 cats, 2 guinea pigs, and a bunny. How many cute little noses do they have altogether?
13. If there are 3 inches of snow on the ground in the morning and we get 3 more inches of snow by dinner time. How many inches of snow did we get that day?
14. My cat has 4 paws and my brother’s dog has 4 paws. How many paws are there in all?
15. I had 10 pennies, but I lost 2 of them. How many pennies do I have now?
16. Santiago read 7 books over the summer. Ryan read 5 books. How many more books did Santiago read than Ryan?
17. Andrew put 10 stickers on his notebook. When he got to school he noticed some of the stickers had fallen off. Now Andrew only has 6 stickers on his notebook. How many stickers fell off Andrew’s notebook?
18. Nicole likes to help her mom pick tomatoes from their garden. She counted 9 tomatoes in the garden. 6 tomatoes were red and the rest were green. Nicole and her mom picked all the red tomatoes. How many green tomatoes did Nicole and her mom leave in the garden?
19. My sister and I have 20 pennies. If my sister has 10 pennies, how many pennies do I have?
20. The zoo had 8 tigers. 3 of the tigers moved to another zoo. How many tigers were left?
21. Esther read 3 poems. Magenna read some more poems. Altogether they read 7 poems. How many poems did Magenna read?
22. Haley’s dad bought 8 cheeseburgers. Haley ate 1 of them. How many cheeseburgers does Haley’s dad have left?
23. If you boil 7 eggs in water, and the number of eggs that float is one more than the number that sink, how many eggs float?
24. Rasheed loves to eat jellybeans. His favorite jellybeans are the yellow ones. There were 12 jellybeans in his bag. Rasheed removed all the yellow jellybeans and ate them, leaving 6 jellybeans in his bag. How many yellow jellybeans did Rasheed eat?
25. The gym teacher had 5 basketballs. The next week the gym teacher got some new basketballs. Now the gym teacher has 9 basketballs. How many new basketballs did the gym teacher get?
26. Jamal has 6 toy airplanes and his brother has 4 toy airplanes. How many more toy airplanes does Jamal have than his brother?
27. Antonio has some marbles. His brother Alex gives him 5 more. Now Antonio has 8 marbles. How many marbles did Antonio have to begin with?
28. If you have an 8-pack of crayons and you give your friend 3 of them to use during drawing time. How many crayons do you have in your pack now?
29. Emily has 4 pink erasers and some white erasers. She has 7 erasers in all. How many white erasers does Emily have?
30. Angel serves pizza at her birthday party. The pizza has 12 slices. 8 slices of pizza are eaten by Angel and her guests. How many slices of pizza are left?
31. If you have 9 toys on the floor and your little brother has 6 toys on the floor. How many more toys on the floor do you have?
32. There are 8 windows in the classroom. Some of the windows have decorations on them, 2 of them don’t have any directions. How many windows have decorations?
33. On Saturday, you brought home some fish from the pet store. If 15 of your 18 fish have stripes. How many of your fish are without strips?
34. 8 birds flew to the top of a fence. Some birds flew away and 6 birds stayed. How many birds flew away?
35. There were 6 books on Noah’s shelf. Olivia took some of the books. Now there are 2 books on the shelf. How many books did Olivia take?
36. Ethan has some folders in his backpack and 4 folders in his desk. He has 8 folders altogether. How many folders are in his backpack?
37. Liam has 8 t-shirts. 5 of them have superheroes on them, and the rest are solid colors. How many of Liam’s t-shirts are solid colors?
38. Mary was putting together a 20 piece puzzle. After she finished, she discovered that only 18 pieces were there. How many pieces were missing?
39. Nicholas has 7 cousins. Some of his cousins are girls and 3 of his cousins are boys. How many girl cousins does Nicholas have?
40. It snowed for 6 hours on Monday and 4 hours on Tuesday. How many more hours did it snow on Monday?
41. Charlie’s mom baked 12 chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Charlie ate 2 cookies and his mom and 1 cookie. How many chocolate cookies were left?
42. Melanie has 16 purple pens. Dante has 10 blue pens. Melanie has ____ more pens than Dante has.
43. Sofia has 75 pennies in her bank. How many more pennies will she need to have 100 pennies in her bank?
44. There were 9 cups of soda on the table. Some of the cups were knocked over, and 6 were still standing. How many cups of soda were knocked over?
45. Griffin has 20 board games. Some were under his bed, and 15 were in his closet. How many board games were under Griffin’s bed?
46. Antonio spotted 3 deer sitting at the top of a hill, but all he could see were their eyes. How many eyes did Antonio see in all?
47. Desmond saw 5 bunnies. He counted all of their ears. How many bunny ears did Desmond count?
48. Katie counted all of her toes, and then she counted all her mom’s toes. How many toes did Katie count altogether?
49. Which weighs more? A 15-pound red fox or a 24-pound wild turkey?
50. Which weighs more: a 150-pound white-tailed deer or a 110-pound kangaroo?
