Grandparents Day Word Problems Worksheet

Solving Grandparents Day word problems asks a fourth grader to do something harder than computing: to read a real situation, notice that one calculation will not finish it, and decide which two operations to use and in what order. That is the heart of the fourth grade standard for multi-step problems with the four operations, and it is the skill that separates a student who can multiply from a student who can think with multiplication.

This Grandparents Day Word Problems Worksheet gives fourth graders seven warm, family-themed problems that each take two steps to finish. Grandma bakes trays of muffins and gives some away, Grandpa plants rows of tulip bulbs and loses a few, a class packs thank you cards into equal boxes and mails three of them. Every problem is written at a fourth grade reading level so the challenge stays mathematical, and every answer is a whole number that a student can check against common sense. The last problem asks for both steps in separate boxes, so students have to show the thinking they usually keep in their heads.

What’s Included

• One printable worksheet page with seven two-step word problems
• Six problems using multiplication, division, addition and subtraction
• One extended problem with a box for the first step and a box for the final answer
• A complete answer key on the final page
• Warm Grandparents Day themed illustration and a clean, roomy layout

Three Reasons This Helps Kids

• Two-step problems force students to plan before they calculate, which is exactly what state tests measure at fourth grade
• Realistic quantities keep the math connected to a world students recognize, so an unreasonable answer feels wrong to them
• Writing the first step down makes a hidden step visible, which is the fastest way for a teacher to find where a student’s reasoning breaks

Teacher and Parent Ideas

• Have students underline the question before they touch a number, then say the two steps out loud to a partner
• Use this multi-step math worksheet as a Grandparents Day activity and invite students to read their favorite problem to a visiting grandparent
• Turn the last problem into a class discussion by asking what would change if Grandpa mailed twenty more cards instead
• Send the page home as homework and use the answer key for quick self-checking the next morning

Related Resources

• Arithmetic Theme Park Multi-Step Word Problems Activity
• Multiples of Ten Word Problems Worksheet
• Finding Perimeter Word Problems Worksheet
• Prime Numbers Song