Instead of simply plopping Christmas themed pictures on the page, the images they see and work with are actually the objects the passage is talking about. I feel like this is great reading support too and also simply helps them understand the math better too! I dislike when word problems are hard for kids to read so I try to write with simple words so kids can simply focus on the math AND these will have picture support for those who need a little extra help with their reading. :)
So you give them a worksheet like this. They read it.
Then, they cut out all of their pieces and start building the problem.
See how the first line is that they put 5 candy canes in the jar? So they put 5 pieces down.
Then they'd continue to build the word problem:
Encourage them to keep each number together - a row of 5 then a row of 4 - like this.
Then, they simply add up their pieces to get the answer and write 9! Awesome, fun addition learning support! :)
Another thing to notice is that I didn't put the exact number of pieces they need.... they had 1 extra. This is a purposeful design element. I want kids to count out how many they need for each number and know that they may not use all of the pieces. See how the original worksheet had 10 pieces but they used 9?
You can also keep all these pieces to use in games later if you want to reuse them! For example: If you do this worksheet with your students in small groups, they can do this sheet with you. Then, you can have them use the pieces to do tons of addition problems using the candy canes that you all do together.
Quick example small groups lesson: Have them put all their pieces in front of them (10 candy canes in this example). Have them take 3 from their pile to put in front of themselves. Then ask them to take 2 more. Ask how many they have now. 5! Repeat for lots of problems for easy Christmas addition word problems practice that you do verbally! Such an easy and simple way to practice that is NO PREP for you because they cut them out already. :)
If you wanted them to do this independently or with a partner (or an extension activity for kids who finish their work quickly), you could also give them a piece of paper to write the number sentences they make (or a little board and a dry erase marker if you want to really score some cool teacher points). :)
You can also easily differentiate by giving problems with smaller numbers to students who struggle a little. This Christmas word problem only has them add 3 and 3 so it's a little easier.
Another way this worksheet is slightly differentiated is that the 2 objects they're adding are technically different (red stockings and green stockings). This helps them visually see the 2 numbers added a little clearer than them simply being separated into piles or rows.
They'd do the same process, but with smaller numbers and a little bit more of a visual difference between the 2 addends.
This is also a doubles fact so that helps too if they know their doubles facts. Speaking of doubles facts, I have super cute Christmas Doubles digital math game and also a Christmas Doubles Plus One digital math game if you use digital math games in your classroom or at home. Those go directly to them on the platform you play them on. If you want to see all of my Christmas Math Digital Games, I wrote that little post last year to show them. I made them for place value, missing addends, addition, subtraction, and some more topics because it was fun and made me feel like I was a video game designer. :) I talked in my post yesterday about how writing little Christmas books makes me feel like an author. I have to tell myself these things to get myself inspired enough to make things sometimes, ha! :)
All of the Christmas addition word problems worksheets also come in black and white.
That makes it super nice to have kids do them as morning work (or classwork anytime during the day) where they also color the pieces to match the story. Plus, it's fun to color the rest of the picture including the border. :) It makes the activity take longer and gives everyone a little bit of a calm rest during these weeks leading up to Christmas.
If you want these Christmas Addition Word Problems Worksheets, they are in this pack:
I also have a completely WINTER version of these if you have any students who don't celebrate Christmas. They are the same format so they look just like these ones but have no Christmas imagery. They are suuuper cute (in my biased opinion since they're mine :) but I love penguins and snowmen and all of that fun winter stuff so I love these too!) and, again, are winter only.
If you want extra, then the winter pack is super easy to mix in with the Christmas to extend this activity for longer. For example, if you wanted to do a new word problem each day for morning work, then you could mix the 2 packs to have 2 weeks worth of daily word problems (10 days).
I have A TON of winter and Christmas activities in my Miss Giraffe TpT Store if you want to see more of my December and January fun! Make sure you follow my TpT store so you see when I post new resources too!
I also wrote a post yesterday showing some ideas for Christmas Blends Activities (beginning blends) and I also have a big post of Christmas Writing Crafts if you want to look around more! I love writing and sharing the activities I make with all of you so I hope you enjoyed this post! :)
