Tally's Acorn Baskets — Add Up to Four Two-Digit Numbers (Grade 2)

About this activity

Tally the squirrel lines up two, three, or even four baskets of acorns and asks the child to add the two-digit numbers in all of them. Rounds grow from two baskets (23 + 14) to four full ones (21 + 14 + 32 + 11), and the child types the total on the keypad. It's a free, interactive Grade 2 math activity that runs right in the browser — nothing to install and no account.

The big idea is that adding several two-digit numbers is much easier when you lean on place value instead of counting up by ones. A child can add the tens of every basket, then add the ones, then put the parts together — or look for friendly pairs that make a ten. Because there are up to four addends in a single round, guessing falls apart fast; the child has to organize the numbers and keep track of the running total.

It is aligned to Common Core 2.NBT.B.6 — adding up to four two-digit numbers using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. No timer, no score — just calm, playful practice.

What's inside this activity

• Designed for Grade 2 learners (ages about 7–8)
• Common Core strand: Number & Operations in Base Ten
• Aligned to Common Core standard 2.NBT.B.6

How to play

Look at all of Tally's baskets and read the two-digit number on each one.

Add the numbers in every basket and type the total on the keypad, then press Check.

Not quite? Try again as many times as you like — there is no timer and no score.

What your child practices

• Adding two, three, and four two-digit numbers to find one total
• Adding the tens and the ones separately, then combining the parts
• Spotting addends that pair to make a friendly ten
• Keeping a running total accurate across several baskets

Learning goals

Add up to four two-digit numbers using place-value strategies — the focus of Common Core 2.NBT.B.6

Use the structure of tens and ones instead of counting by ones

Build the addition fluency that later multi-digit and column work depends on