Symbol Math with Colors: Solve Each Expression

This Grade 2 math worksheet uses pictures of Colors as stand-ins for numbers, so the child reads a small key, swaps each picture for its value, and then solves the expression. At the top, a short key gives every symbol a single-digit number — one picture might be worth four, another six. Below it, the child meets number sentences that mix adding and subtracting, such as one symbol plus a second minus a third. The work is real calculation: look up each value, substitute it in, then add and subtract from left to right to find the answer, which can climb to around forty. Trading the familiar Colors for numbers keeps the arithmetic friendly while the child practises exactly the kind of two-step adding and subtracting that Grade 2 is built on.

Here the expressions are a little longer, with four symbols to substitute before the child evaluates. Reading the key for the Colors, swapping each value in, and then adding and subtracting in turn keeps the child working with several numbers at once. It is exactly the multi-term solving that Grade 2 arithmetic is meant to strengthen.

If your child enjoys this math worksheet with Colors, there is plenty more to solve, at a pace that feels right. You can print the worksheet as a PDF to work on paper, or play the interactive version online, always free and with no sign-up. There are no timers and no scores: each child substitutes, adds, and subtracts in their own time, with warmth and no shame about a tricky problem. When this is easy, try a symbol math worksheet with Colors that uses longer expressions, or solve the same key with a fresh set of pictures. You can also browse every math worksheet to keep the adding and subtracting going, steadily and at your child's own pace.