Arithmetic Word Problems About Items Found in the Home

You can use arithmetic daily in many settings. Here are some suggestions for how you can make up arithmetic story problems about common items you find at home. To see more suggestions for other contexts go to Use Arithmetic Everyday.

Throughout any house there are many opportunities for counting and performing arithmetic operations. You can use the following questions to help you think of questions relevant to your house:

Addition

The two bedrooms have 3 pictures each on the wall, and the living room has 5 pictures. How many pictures are hanging on the walls in the house altogether? (Try this with the number of windows, chairs, and so on.)

You counted 8 cups, 12 plates, and 9 bowls on the table. How many dishes are there altogether?

You counted 14 red books and 46 blue books in the house, how many books are there altogether?

Subtraction

You counted 97 buttons in a button jar. If we use 20, how many buttons will be left?

Sort photos by the subject or the person in the picture. There are 10 photos of Bill and 7 of Jane. How many more pictures are there of Bill than of Jane?

We have 17 plants in this room. If we move 4 to another room, how many plants will be left in this room?

Multiplication

Mark containers with even markings -- or use measuring cups. Fill up to the first mark with small objects (jelly beans, rice, raisins, popcorn kernels, gravel, beads, pennies). If you count 154 up to the line, can you estimate how many will be at the second line, the third line, and so forth. You can count to check.

There are four towels hanging in each bathroom. How many towels are hanging in all 3 bathrooms?

This floor has 10 lines of tile, with 12 tiles in each line. How many tiles are on this floor?

Division

You counted 58 buttons in the button jar- how many shirts could we put buttons on if each shirt needed 4 buttons?

These 50 buttons came off 10 shirts, how many buttons did each shirt have?

You counted 256 nails in this nail can. It takes 10 nails to nail each picture frame. How many frames can we make with all these nails?

We have 280 seashells. If we want to make pictures by gluing these on boards, and we want an 14 on each board, how many boards can we make?