Teaching math can be intimidating, but having some handy addition worksheets for grade 1 will help you reinforce basic math lessons so kids will actually remember them. Grade 1 has a few key math focus areas and one of those is addition. Addition is critical to younger students’ understanding of number relationships. First graders need strong addition skills before building up to other concepts.
Table of Contents
- How Do You Teach Addition to 1st Graders?
- The Best Addition Worksheets for Grade 1
- What Is Single Digit and Double Digit Addition?
- How Do You Teach Double Digit Addition Without Regrouping?
- Check Out These Additional 1st Grade Resources
How Do You Teach Addition to 1st Graders?
There are many great strategies to teach addition in Grade 1. Using physical manipulatives is the best place to start. Count out toys or crayons together.
From there, you can move on to visuals. Visuals are highly effective tools in strengthening concepts like addition. With practice and mastery of these strategies, you can move on to more advanced tools like number lines and tens frames.
Both parents and educators will find that worksheets focused on the addition concepts above are excellent learning aids. The early elementary years are crucial to setting students up for future success. So how do we do this? With high-quality, educator-created materials!
That’s why I’ve partnered with Teach Simple, whose marketplace is full of educational materials created by actual teachers (plus 50% of all revenues go to them). I’ve found a variety of their educator-created worksheets below to help you teach and reinforce effective strategies for learning addition. Have a look!
The Best Addition Worksheets for Grade 1
- How Many Eyes – Addition By Cherry Workshop
Are you looking for a Halloween-themed worksheet? Then, engage students with this monstrously fun addition practice. This visual worksheet offers multimodal addition practice that’s fun too!
- Learning Addition Volume 1 Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media
If you’re looking for an array of worksheets in one place, this printable workbook is the way to go. The workbook consists of varied worksheets at different levels of rigor so you can support all students.
It includes activities for:
• Understanding addition
• Finding sums to 10
- Earth Day Addition With Pictures By Cherry Workshop
Students will practice and learn about addition through the lens of Earth Day this time. The transfer of simple addition skills across content and interest areas keeps kids interested in addition because they can see it in different contexts!
- Addition Facts 1-18 Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media
The basics are essential, and this worksheet set of addition practice with numbers 1-18 gets right to it. Simple and without frills, your students will be able to focus on meaningful practice with these printable worksheets that reinforce single and double digit addition skills.
- Apple Tens Frames Puzzle By Cherry Workshop
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, and these tens frame practice puzzles will help students practice making ten in a variety of ways. The blend of visuals and repetition for practice offered in this “puzzle” worksheet makes learning how to add to ten just a bit sweeter!
- Mental Math Groundhog Day By Quail Trail Products
While we often think about mental math as something that comes along later, starting these practices during early learning is a must. This Groundhog Day themed worksheet will support students in taking on some mental addition. And if they’re really getting the hang of things they can practice their mental subtraction too.
- Count On Addition Winter Theme By Cherry Workshop
Another seasonal take on addition practice—this is a cute and fun worksheet to check out during the winter season. Yum, marshmallows.
- Beginning To Add Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media
If you’re looking for the essential building blocks, you have found it with this foundational worksheet set. Geared toward students at lower levels, this is a helpful tool for students struggling with the basic addition concepts.
- Winter 10-Frames By Cherry Workshop
You can’t go wrong with more 10 frames practice! This winter-themed set is adorable, well-made, and really helps kids understand the basics behind addition problems.
- Beginning To Add Printable Workbook 2 By Twin Sisters Digital Media
Another back-to-basics set of worksheets for students who need more support with addition. They’ll find this to be an approachable addition practice with several sheets to hit the concept home.
- Valentine’s Day Decomposing 10 By Cherry Workshop
It’s tricky to break down addition as a concept, but this worksheet easily addresses decomposition. This is a fun, seasonal way to strengthen number sense for first graders!
- Addition Fun Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media
This is precisely what all teachers or parents need to keep handy! This set of worksheets is ideal for pulling out anytime to have a bit of fun and learning.
- Spring Color By Sum Worksheet By Cherry Workshop
Coloring is not only fun and engaging, but it also supports learning. That’s why this Color by Sum Spring worksheet is great for your students; it doesn’t seem like practicing math at all!
- Addition Review Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media
Parents and teachers know that our kiddos need to stay on top of their practice to keep their skills sharp. These addition review worksheets are a highly effective tool for maintaining the skills that have already been sharpened.
- Spring Make 10 By Cherry Workshop
Tens frames are an incredible tool for helping students develop a strong number sense. The spring-themed addition practice offered here uses ten frames in a fun context.
- Fidget Spinner Addition By Knowledge Box Central
Fidget spinners are all the rage, so why not embrace that in our math practice? This amusing and engaging worksheet set has students use fidget spinners as a visual in their addition practice.
- Spring Addition Worksheet By Cherry Workshop
Another Spring-themed worksheet, this puzzle-type activity is a simple and engaging tool for visual addition practice.
- Summer Addition Pack By Dressed In Sheets
If you’re getting ready for summer lessons or just prepping for some end-of-the-school-year fun, this pack of addition worksheets has all you need to keep kids practicing their math skills until the end of the year.
- Frozen Math Worksheets By Knowledge Box Central
Do you want to build a snowman? How about practice addition with Anna, Elsa, and the rest of the Frozen gang? This Frozen-themed math worksheet set will hook in any Disney-crazed student.
- Star Wars Addition & Subtraction Math Worksheets By Knowledge Box Central
Maybe lightsabers are more your students’ speed? This fun, cute, and simple Star Wars math worksheet set will engage even the most reluctant Jedi to use the force for their addition practice.
- Gross Motor Math Game – Addition By Miracles and Moree
Try something different with this manipulative game that blends addition worksheets and age-appropriate gross motor tasks. It will engage your students in more than one way since it’s presented in a gamified form, has manipulatives that go along with each projected worksheet, and doesn’t require students to sit quietly and answer questions like typical worksheets do.
What Is Single Digit and Double Digit Addition?
Single digit addition is just what it sounds like! It is adding together two single numbers to determine what they both add up to (their sum). These types of addition problems only look at the ones place value; there is no venturing into the tens place just yet!
There are two formats of single digit addition problems. First, there is the basic side-by-side or horizontal format, which looks like “1+2=3.” Check out the Summer Addition Pack worksheets above for examples of this type of problem.
Then there is a vertical or stacked format. In this setup, one digit “sits” on top of the other, and a line takes the place of the equal sign. The Beginning to Add worksheet set is another excellent single digit addition resource for this type of format.
Double digit addition is the same idea as single digit addition, but instead of adding single numbers 0–9, you will use double digit numbers in their place. These problems ask students to examine both the ones and tens place values. These problems look like “10+20=30.” Double-digit addition is a bit more advanced, but with practice your kiddos will master it in no time!
How Do You Teach Double Digit Addition Without Regrouping?
One of the trickier aspects of double digit addition is the potential of regrouping. Regrouping is the redistribution of groups of ten within the numbers you are adding. You’re rearranging your sets of ten to facilitate the addition.
Take adding together 19 and 11, for example. If we stack these numbers and start adding one digit at a time, we end up with a 10 on the right side in our ones place. As adults, we may just know to carry the one to the left-hand side, or tens place. That shifts the one to the left side of the problem and takes care of the issue by regrouping to a new set of ten. With that, we find the sum of 19 and 11 is 30.
To teach addition without regrouping, you will need to look for problems that don’t ask your child to create a number bigger than 9 in the ones place. You can look for worksheets that specifically practice double digit addition without regrouping, or you can eyeball your worksheet to look for problems to skip. Whether you are looking for single digit addition practice or you’re working up to double digit addition with regrouping, you will find tons of helpful resources at Teach Simple or in any of the addition worksheets for Grade 1 above.
Check Out These Additional 1st Grade Resources
About the Author
Ali Pierce has been a proud public school teacher for nearly a decade. An English teacher by day, Ali works with educators throughout K-12 in a variety of coaching and support roles. A proud Wildcat, Ali earned both her BA in Creative Writing and M.Ed. in Teaching and Teacher Education from the University of Arizona. When not teaching, Ali can be found hanging out with her two young sons and sneaking in some reading for fun.
