It’s easy to incorporate second grade math concepts into your child’s day using things you already have at home. Here’s how.
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Money play leads to math smarts!
Money math is not just important for 2nd graders, it’s fun! When you empty the change from your pocket, have your child count it. How many quarters? How many dimes? Are there more than a dollar in coins? It’s up to you whether you want to give them your change! If your child loves playing with money, boost financial smarts even more with these worksheets.
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Pile on the learning
Pile some small objects in front of your child — like buttons or pennies — and have them put the objects in groups of five. Now have them count by fives to tell you how many they have. Play the same game with 10s — put the items in groups of 10 and have them count by 10s — and 2s. This worksheet will help them practice and understand counting by 10s.
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The numerical magic of a deck of cards
A deck of cards may be your best friend. Take out the 10s and face cards, but leave in the ace and let your child know it equals 1. Jokers can stay and equal zero. Now play war: each person turns up 2 cards and adds them up. The highest number wins and keeps all the cards. The player with the most cards wins. You can do this with subtraction, too! Watch your child get faster and faster as he commits sums to memory! Check out these other games designed to boost math and critical thinking.
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Shaping up nicely
Give your child a number and ask them to draw you a shape with that number of sides. For instance, five should get you a pentagon, eight should get you an octagon, but six might get you a cube! Give your child practice with this worksheet.
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Know the score!
Do you ever play games where you’re adding the score? Let your child be the scorekeeper. Learning to add two-digit number is one of this year’s goals. Kids should be able to add up to four two-digit numbers as well as add (and subtract) within 1,000 by March. Give your child some practice with this worksheet.
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Memorizing sums
Some things still have to be memorized. This year, kids should learn to calculate the sum of one-digit numbers (like 2+4, 5+6, 4+8) — without using their fingers. Try multiple methods to get these facts into your child’s head, like flashcards, games that involve rolling two dice, and this worksheet.
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Keeping time
Your second grader should be able to tell time to the nearest five minutes. To practice, have your child create a clock that shows what factor of five each number equals. For example, next to the four, your child would write 20, and next to the eight, they’d write 40. Have your child draw a few clocks on a white board without the hands. Now call out random times for them to draw. Can they illustrate 3:45 and 9:15 clearly? Try our what’s the time worksheet, too.
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Add and subtract with jacks and queens
Playing cards can be a stealthy math lesson! With this game, create a memory sheet with face cards values: jack = 11, queen = 12, king = 13, and jokers = 14. Take turns flipping one card at a time face up. Write down your number; then go around and flip again. Add to the previous number. Go through the whole deck. Highest number wins. Want a challenge? Practice subtraction by starting with 500 points and trying to get to zero. Give your child more addition and subtraction practice with this worksheet.
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Change for a dollar?
Can your child count coins to get to one dollar? Pull out the change jar and do some money math together. Write a handful of amounts, each less than a dollar, on a few sticky notes. Those are the amounts you’ve “spent.” Pretend you’ve paid with a one dollar bill, and ask your child to make the correct change for the amount spent on each sticky note. When you check, each sticky note should have the correct change piled next to it. (So a sticky note with $0.72 written on it would have $0.28 in change next to it.) If this gets easy for your child, you can advance the game by using amounts above $1.00. Give your child more practice with this worksheet about calculating change.
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Raising your little statistician
Your number-savvy rising third grader can now collect data and create bar and picture graphs. Have your child practice these skills by counting and charting or graphing items around the house. They can count change and create a graph or pictograph based on the number of each type of coins. Or have them count and chart bananas, apples, and grapes over several days, then have them interpret the data. What do they notice about how much fruit is eaten in your house? Give your child extra practice with this worksheet on reading bar graphs.
