Addition & Subtraction Story Problems Within 20
Build problem-solving skills with addition and subtraction word problems. Includes take-away, comparison, and missing addend stories with visual supports.
Bare number problems teach calculation. Word problems teach thinking. A child who can solve 8+5=13 but doesn't recognize that "Sarah had 8 cookies and got 5 more" means addition hasn't truly mastered the skill. Real life doesn't present math problems as "8+5=" – it presents stories, situations, and problems to solve. Word problems build the bridge between abstract calculation and real-world application.
Our word problems use simple language, familiar contexts, and visual supports to help young readers focus on the math. The first grade math hub offers additional problem-solving resources and teaching strategies.
Our generator includes all four problem types
"Sarah had 8 cookies. She got 5 more. How many now?" (Addition) or "Sarah had 13 cookies. She ate 5. How many left?" (Subtraction)
"Sarah has 8 chocolate cookies and 5 sugar cookies. How many total?" (Addition) or "Sarah has 13 cookies. 8 are chocolate. How many are sugar?" (Subtraction)
"Sarah has 8 cookies. Tom has 5. How many more does Sarah have?" (Subtraction – finding the difference)
Read the problem and picture what is happening.
Ask: Are things being combined, separated, or compared?
Write the equation and solve using a strategy.
Does the answer make sense in the story?
For some children, the gap isn't in practice — it's in the underlying number sense that makes addition and subtraction intuitive. If your child is still counting on fingers for every fact past mid-year, struggles to understand teen numbers, or can't explain their thinking, worksheets alone won't bridge that gap. Our Number Sense Foundations course (K–2) builds the conceptual groundwork that makes fact fluency stick.
View Number Sense Foundations — $57Everything you need to know about first grade word problems
Word problems require three skills simultaneously: reading comprehension, math understanding, and problem-solving. A child might know 8+5=13 but struggle to recognize that "Sarah had 8 cookies and got 5 more" means addition. The key is teaching children to identify the action: combining = add, taking away = subtract, comparing = subtract. Our word problems use simple language and visual supports to reduce reading load while building problem-solving skills.
First grade word problems fall into several categories: 1) Add to/result unknown: "Sarah had 8 cookies. She got 5 more. How many now?" 2) Take from/result unknown: "Sarah had 13 cookies. She ate 5. How many left?" 3) Put together/total unknown: "Sarah has 8 chocolate cookies and 5 sugar cookies. How many total?" 4) Compare/difference unknown: "Sarah has 8 cookies. Tom has 5. How many more does Sarah have?" Our generator includes all these types.
Teach your child to look for action words and think about what is happening. Combining (in all, total, together, altogether) usually means addition. Taking away (left, remain, ate, gave away) usually means subtraction. Comparing (how many more, how many fewer) means subtraction. The most common mistake is seeing a word like "more" and automatically adding – but "how many more" is subtraction. Practice with our worksheets builds this recognition.
In early first grade, no. Reading the problem aloud to your child is fine – the goal is math thinking, not reading assessment. By mid-first grade, children should attempt to read simple problems independently. By end of first grade, most can read word problems with common sight words. Our word problems use simple vocabulary and short sentences to support emerging readers.
Missing addend problems ask "what plus something equals something else?" Example: "Sarah has some cookies. She gets 5 more. Now she has 13. How many did she start with?" These are actually subtraction problems (13-5=8), but children who only learned take-away subtraction struggle. Missing addend problems are important because they build algebraic thinking and appear frequently in real life ("I have $5, I need $13, how much more do I need?").
Aim for 2-3 word problems per day, not more. Word problems require more mental effort than bare number problems. Too many at once leads to frustration. The ideal pattern: 8-10 bare number problems for skill practice, then 2-3 word problems for application. Our generator lets you mix word problems with regular problems so children practice both skills in one worksheet.
This is extremely common. Children see numbers and assume they should add. Teach your child to stop and ask: "Is something being combined or taken away?" Use drawings or objects to act out the problem before writing anything. For comparison problems ("how many more"), physically line up objects so your child sees that finding the difference is not adding. With consistent practice, most children outgrow this by the end of first grade.
Good first grade word problems have: 1) Numbers within 20, 2) Simple, familiar contexts (toys, cookies, animals, friends), 3) Clear action (combining, separating, comparing), 4) Short sentences with basic vocabulary, and 5) Visual supports for struggling readers. Our word problems are designed with all five criteria. The first grade math hub offers additional problem-solving resources.
Generate custom word problem worksheets for your first grader. Choose addition, subtraction, or mixed operations and download clean PDFs with answer keys.
Free • No registration required • 10 worksheets per day