ECD/Foundation Phase
Word problems Activities
Grade 2
Term 1
Problem-solving techniques for Grade 2 (from CAPS English version P58)
Learners are expected to work out word problems using the following
techniques:
• drawings or concrete apparatus e.g. counters
• building up and breaking down numbers
• doubling and halving
• number lines supported by concrete apparatus
Week 1
1. There are three girls playing on the playground. Nine
boys join in and play with the girls. How many children
are playing now?
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2. Jane is on page 15 and Theo is on page 9 of the same
book. How many more pages has Jane read?
3. Moeketsi has 6 sweets. Mahlodi gives him 8 more. How
many sweets does Moeketsi have altogether?
4. Mum has half a dozen eggs plus five in another carton.
Half a dozen means 6. How many eggs does Mum have?
5. Francis buys a notebook for R6,50 and another one for
R4,20. How much money does he need to buy both
notebooks?
Week 2
1. Moeketsi has 8 sweets. He has 4 fewer sweets than
Mahlodi. How many sweets does Mahlodi have?
2. Zonke has 7 fluffy toys. Zia has 5 more than Zonke. How
many fluffy toys does Zia have?
3. Hilda worked in the garden for 2 hours in the morning
and 3 hours in the afternoon. Andrew worked for 8 hours
in the shop. Who worked more hours?
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4. Yolanda has 7 sweets. If she buys 5 sweets, she will have
as many as Jabu. How many sweets does Jabu have?
5. My aunt baked twelve cupcakes. If there are 6 children
and she gives one cupcake to each child, how many does
she have left?
Week 3
1. Thandi has a house full of flies! She killed 12 flies. Her
husband killed 5 flies. How many more did she kill than
him?
2. Johan had R13 and bought groceries for R9 today. How
much money does he have left now?
3. Musa had R3 and Bonga had R6. Then both brothers
worked helping Dad in the garden. Musa earned R5 and
Bonga earned R7. Now, who has more money?
4. There are 13 passengers on the train. After 10 people get
off at the station, how many passengers are there still on
the train?
5. Olwethu did 7 jumping jacks, which was 6 fewer
jumping jacks than what her brother Bongani did. How
many jumping jacks did Bongani do?
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Week 4
1. Eva had some sweets. Her father gave her 9 more. Now
she has 14. How many did Eva start with?
2. Eleven children are playing football. If four children
are girls, how many boys are playing football?
3. There are six cats and 14 dogs. What is the difference?
4. Mpho has 6 books. Nakedi has 14 books. How many
more books does Nakedi have than Mpho?
5. Some people are riding on the bus. At the bus stop, 10
people get on. Now there are 16 people on the bus. How
many were there originally?
Week 5
1. Mataole has 6 pencils. Her brother has 13. How many
more pencils must Mataole get to have as many as her
brother?
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2. Nakedi has 23 stuffed toys that she likes, and 8 that she
does not like. How many stuffed toys does Nakedi have?
3. David has 16 cards. Veena has 7 fewer cards than David.
How many cards does Veena have?
4. Naledi gave the 8 toys she does not like to her sister
Ansie. Now, Ansie has 20 toys. How many toys did
Ansie have before?
5. Lerato had 8 points in a computer game. She played and
got 8 more points. Then she also got a 2-point bonus!
How many points does Lerato have now?
Week 6
1. Double four. Plus seven.
2. How many wheels do 4 bicycles have?
3. How much money will Mrs Nkosi need, if she gives R2
each to five children?
4. There are three plates, and each plate has two oranges.
How many oranges are there altogether?
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5. There are six sweets in a bag. If you buy two bags, how
many sweets do you get?
Week 7
1. There are two rabbits and five hens in the garden. How
many legs can you see?
2. A fizzpop costs R2,50. Palesa wants to buy 4 fizzpops.
She has R10,00. Does she have enough money?
3. There are twelve avocados in the basket. If I make packs
of two avocados each, how many packs of avocados can
I make?
4. How many cars can you make if you have 8 wheels?
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5. A vegetable garden has 20 plants that are planted in
rows. There are 2 plants in each row. How many rows
are there?
Week 8
1. Bubble gum sweets cost 10c each. Busi spent 50c. How
many bubble gum sweets did she buy?
2. There are 18 toy cars. Can you share them equally
between the two of you?
3. Naomi has 20 flowers. She puts them into 2 vases so that
both have the same. How many flowers are in each vase?
4. Mongezi packs out 20 counters into 10 rows. How many
counters are in a row?
5. We bought two pizzas and my brother cut each of them
into eight pieces. If we are five. How many pieces of
pizza can we eat, if we take same number of pieces?
Then how many pieces are left?
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