Little Math Stories Worksheet

Six-year-olds can count out loud and still stall when the math is tucked inside a sentence. This printable gives them three short math stories to work through: apples in a basket, frogs by a pond, and rabbits in a garden. They read or listen to each story, notice what changes, and answer how many there are now or how many are left.

This page fits a kindergartener who is ready to work with small numbers and simple story language. If reading the sentences slows things down, read them aloud while your child points to the numbers. Keep the focus on the action in the story: something is added, something jumps away, or something hops in.

The practice is direct and concrete. In the apple story, there are 2 apples and Sam adds 4 more, so children combine the amounts to get 6. In the frog story, 7 frogs start by the pond and 4 jump away, so children take away to find 3 left. In the rabbit story, 2 rabbits are in the garden and 5 more hop in, so children join the groups to make 7.

Sit beside your child and ask, “What happened first?” and “What changed?” before they answer. If they guess, have them use fingers, small counters, or quick dots on scrap paper to model the story. After this page, try the bigger, smaller, or equal groups worksheet to compare amounts, or use the number comparison worksheet to practice deciding which number is greater or smaller after finding totals.