problem solving examples grade 3

35 math problems for 3 rd graders

In 3rd grade, students are introduced to important math concepts that become the building blocks for future mathematical learning. Let’s practice those concepts with this list of math problems for 3rd graders.

Author Katie Wickliff

Published September 25, 2023

• Key takeaways
• In 3rd grade math, students develop a deeper understanding of multiplication and division, fractions, and measurements.
• Word problems for 3rd graders require more advanced comprehension skills.
• Place Value: Understanding place value helps us read and write numbers correctly and compare their values.
• Look for opportunities for your child to practice their math at home–worksheets, math games , or a math practice app will help strengthen new mathematical knowledge. While consistency is key, math practice for 3rd graders should be engaging and fun.

Table of contents

• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Measurement
• Multi-step word problems

Answer sheet

In addition to reviewing and strengthening the skills learned in previous years, 3rd graders learn multiplication and division, explore fractions, calculate measurements, and more. Also, word problems for 3rd graders are often multi-step, requiring students to understand what operations to perform and how to perform them correctly. 

This list of 3rd grade math problems is intended to reinforce concepts students have already been taught. The list is divided into sections: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, measurement, and multi-step problems. These sections allow students to specifically focus their practice, but feel free to skip around and choose the 3rd grade math practice problems that best suit your child’s needs. 

35 Third Grade Math Problems

Section 1: addition.

At the school carnival, Hattie won 25 tickets at ring toss and 40 tickets at balloon darts. How many tickets did she win altogether?

There are 15 baby chicks at the barn. 12 more chicks are born. How many baby chicks are at the barn now?

How can you represent the number line with an equation?

Using the number line, solve 7+ _ = 22

Amir practices basketball three days a week. On Tuesday, he practices basketball for 60 minutes. On Wednesday, he practices for 37 minutes. On Thursday, he practices for 15 minutes. Which expression shows how to find the total number of minutes Amir practiced? Circle the correct answer

Section 2: Subtraction

Using the number line, solve 17-6=

There are 224 Lions fans and 212 Tigers fans at the football game. How many more Lions fans than Tigers fans are at the game?

An animal shelter has 27 kittens available for adoption. On Friday, 8 kittens are adopted. How many kittens are left at the shelter?

Gemma has 130 beads for bracelets. She gives 75 beads to Piper and 6 beads to Claire. Which expression shows how to find the total number of beads Gemma has left? Circle the correct answer.

Using the number line, solve 30- _ = 14

Section 3: Multiplication

Using the picture below, write a multiplication equation to find the number of shapes

Francis and Jane are playing a card game. Francis has 7 cards. Jane has 3 times as many cards as Francis. How many cards does Jane have?

Using the number line to show hops, complete the multiplication sentence

Solve the equation

Mariela has 8 pages of math homework. There are 4 problems on each page. How many total problems does Mariela have for math homework?

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Section 4: Division

Connor has 80 crayons that he will put into crayon boxes. Each crayon box can hold 8 crayons. How many crayon boxes does he need?

Using the number line to show hops, complete the division sentence

Natalie divided 12 marbles into equal groups of 3. Draw a representation to show equal grouping.

Craig’s mom brought 12 cookies to the soccer game. She shared them equally among Craig and 3 teammates. Which expression will solve the problem correctly? Circle the answer.

Section 5: Fractions

Using the number line, work out what A, B and C represent.

Plot ¼ on this number line:

A cheese pizza has 8 slices. Marco ate 2 of the slices. His dad at the rest.  What fraction of the pizza did Marco eat? What fraction of the pizza did his dad eat?

There are 15 flowers in a garden. 10 flowers are yellow and the rest are red. What is the fraction of red flowers in the garden?

Using the number line, find the value of K and L. Which is bigger?

Section 6: Measurement

A school bus is 12 feet long and a car is 4 feet shorter than the bus. How long is the car?

John is 64 inches tall, Mabel is 59 inches tall, and Phoebe is 57 inches tall. How much taller is John than Phoebe?

Use the ruler provided to measure to the nearest ¼ inch:

Find the area of the square below

Find the perimeter of the rectangle below

Section 7: Multi-step word problems

Sarah has two $10 bills. Her sister has one $5 bill. They combine their money to buy a game that costs $22 dollars. How much change will they receive?

Dad baked 36 cookies for the bake sale. Jonas baked 24 cookies for the bake sale. His brother ate 5 cookies before the bake sale started. How many cookies do they have left to sell?

The school bus seats 75 students in all. On Friday, the school bus was full. At the first stop, 7 students got off. At the second stop, 15 students got off. How many children were left on the bus?

George has 25 water balloons. He wants to divide the water balloons equally between himself and 2 friends. How many water balloons will each get? Will there be any water balloons left over?

On Monday, 5 inches of snow fell. On Tuesday, 3 inches of snow fell. On Wednesday, 7 inches of snow fell. The school will have a snow day if it snows 21 inches or more. How many more inches would it have to snow for the school to have a snow day?

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Addition answers

25+40= 65. Hattie won 65 tickets

15+12= 27. 27 baby chicks are at the barn

7+ 15= 22. This should be represented by 15 “hops” on the number line

Subtraction answers

17-6=11. This should be represented by 11 “hops” on the number line

224-212= 12. There are 12 more Lions fans than Tiger fans

27-8= 19. There are 19 kittens left at the shelter.

Multiplication answers

2×3=6; 3×2=6

7×3=21. Jane has 21 cards.

8×4= 32

Division answers

40÷8= 5. It will take Max 5 days to pay Bennett.

Drawing should show 3 groups of 4 marbles each.

Fractions answers

The ¼ should be plotted on the point between 0 and ½

Marco ate 2/8 (or ¼) of the pizza. His dad ate 6/8 (or ¾) of the pizza

5/15 (or ⅓)

K= ⅜, L= 6/8 (or ¾). L is larger.

Measurement answers

12-4=8. The car is 8 feet long.

64-57=7. John is 7 inches taller than Phoebe

8×8=64. The area is 64 yd2

8+8+2+2=20 cm

Multi-step word answer answers

$10+$10= $20. 

$20+$5=$25.

$25-$22= $3

 Sarah and her sister will receive $3 in change

They have 55 cookies left to sell

53 students are left on the bus

George and his friends each get 6 water balloons, with one left over.

• 5 in+ 3 in+ 7 in= 15 in

21 in- 15 in= 6 in

It must snow 6 more inches to get a snow day. 

Lesson credits

Katie Wickliff

Katie holds a master’s degree in Education from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in both Journalism and English from The University of Iowa. She has over 15 years of education experience as a K-12 classroom teacher and Orton-Gillingham certified tutor. Most importantly, Katie is the mother of two elementary students, ages 8 and 11. She is passionate about math education and firmly believes that the right tools and support will help every student reach their full potential.

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Unit 8: Arithmetic patterns and problem solving

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CHALLENGE ZONE 3rd Grade Math Problems

Welcome to our 3rd Grade Math Problems. Here you will find our range of challenging math problem worksheets which are designed to give children the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge to solve a range of longer problems.

These problems are also a great way of developing perseverance and getting children to try different approaches in their math.

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3rd Grade Math Problems

Here you will find a range of problem solving worksheets.

The 3rd grade math problems on the sheets are longer math problems designed to encourage children to use a range of math skills to solve them.

The skills the problems will help to develop include:

• systematic working
• logical thinking
• number fact knowledge
• fraction problems
• trial and improvement strategies
• working systematically
• searching for all possible answers.

At third grade, the problems are starting to become more advanced with children needing to become more systematic in their approach and experimenting using trial and improvement strategies.

3rd Grade Math Word Problems

• Bikes and Trikes

Bikes and Trikes is an activity to encourage children to work systematically and find all possibilities for the number of bikes and trikes at a show.

• PDF version
• Captain's Coins

Captain's Coins is a 3rd grade math problem activity involving sharing out a pile of coins according to certain rules. This activity is good to use for developing trial and improvement strategie.

• Broken Calculator Problem 2

The Broken Calculator problem is a number problem involving using an imaginary broken calculator with only the 3, 5, +, - and = buttons working to make different totals.

There are 2 versions of the problem sheet, one with a pre-prepared template for filling in, and a second blank version for children to show their own recording system.

• Blank version
• Color that Shape

Color that Shape is a coloring activity which uses logical thinking to work out which shape needs to be shaded which color.

• Dilly's Eggs #2

Dilly's Eggs is an activity involving counting in different size steps. The aim is to work out how many eggs Dilly had from two separate rules. It is a good activity to develop systematic working and the use of lists or tables to solve a problem.

• Frogs in Ponds

Frogs in Ponds is a 3rd grade math problem activity which involves using trial and improvement and logical thinking to get the correct number of frogs into each of the ponds.

Join Me Up is an logical puzzle where the aim is to place the numbers from 1 to 7 into the puzzle so that no consecutive numbers are next to each other.

Place It RIght #3

Place It Right is a place value activity designed to get children thinking hard about where to put the beads on a place value abacus to get numbers closest to a specific total.

• Place It Right #3
• Sally's Rectangular Puzzle #1

Sally's Rectangular Puzzle is an adding puzzle where the aim is to give each circle a value so that the sides of the rectangles add together to make a given total.

Sally's Fruit Punch Challenge #1

Sally's Fruit Punch is a scaling problem involving changing a recipe for fruit punch for one glass into a recipe for ten glasses. In the challenge, you have to firstly work out the ingredients you need, and then work out the cost of the ingredients. This challenge is great for developing real-life math solving problems involving money and measures.

• Sally's Fruit Punch Challenge 1
• Sally's Fruit Punch Challenge 1 (UK version)
• Share the Treasure #3

Share the Treasure is a fraction sharing activity where the aim is to share 24 bars between a group of pirates. It is a good activity for developing fraction problem solving.

• Spot the Digits

Spot the Digits is a logic activity where children have to find out the values of the letters a, b, c and d. The values can be determined by using the 3 clues.

The Rock Race Challenge 1

The Rock Race is a number activity which needs some perseverance to complete. The aim of the activity is to try different routes around the 6 rocks to determine which route is the shortest.

• The Rock Race #1

The Three Spiders Problem

The Three Spiders Problem is another problem which involves finding all the possibilites. The aim of this task is to find all triples of odd numbers that add up to 23. Good for odd and even practice as well as adding three small numbers together and strategic thinking.

• Three Spiders Problem

Looking for some easier math problems?

We have a range of easier word problems at our 2nd-grade-math-salamanders website.

The problems on this page are at a simpler level than those here.

Many of the problems, e.g. Place It Right, Pick the Cards and Share the Treasure have easier versions on this page.

Using the link below will open our 2nd grade site in a new tab.

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Looking for some harder word problems

We have a range of more challenging word problems on our 4th grade problem solving page.

The problems on this page are at a trickier level than those here.

Some of the problems, e.g. The Rock Race and Share the Treasure have harder versions on this page.

• 4th Grade Math Problems

Looking for some more third grade math problems?

Here are a range of problems solving sheets for 3rd graders. Most of the sheets contain 'real-life' problems which involve real data.

Using the sheets will help your child to:

• apply their addition, subtraction, and multiplication skills;
• develop their knowledge of fractions;
• apply their knowledge of rounding and place value;
• solve a range of 'real life' problems.

All the 3rd grade sheets in this section support Elementary math benchmarks.

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3rd Grade Money Worksheets

On this webpage, you will find our 3rd grade Money Challenges.

These challenges involve solving money problems and are a great way for kids to develop their reasoning skills and practice their counting money at the same time.

• 3rd Grade Money Challenges
• 3rd Grade Math Puzzles

Here you will find a range of printable 3rd grade math puzzles for your child to enjoy.

The puzzles will help your child practice and apply their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts as well as developing their thinking and reasoning skills in a fun and engaging way.

Using these puzzles will help your child to:

• learn and practice their addition facts to 100;
• practice adding multiples of 10;
• practice their subtraction facts to 100;
• practice multiplication and division facts;
• develop problem solving skills and reasoning.

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50 Third Grade Math Word Problems of the Day

The area of Happytown is 42 square miles.

Opening your daily math lesson with a Math Word Problem of the Day is an excellent way to set the stage for learning. We all know that word problems are difficult for young learners to grasp, even when the mathematical operation portion of the problem is basic. Incorporate these third grade math word problems one day at a time at the start of your math block to build confidence, critical thinking skills, and a learning community. Students will get used to reading slowly for meaning, while also identifying key information. Encourage students to write out equations and draw pictures to explain their thinking, since this helps them see the light when they are stuck!

Topics covered include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, mixed operation, fractions, area and perimeter, and measurement. All you need to do is post one of these third grade math word problems on your whiteboard or projector screen, then let kids take it from there.

Want this entire set of word problems in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here .

50 Third Grade Math Word Problems

1. gage went shopping and bought 19 cupcakes, 18 apple pies, and 47 glazed donuts. how many items did he buy altogether.

2. A shelter is taking care of 384 cats. 176 more arrive. How many cats are in the shelter now?

3. Gabby has 42 books on her bookshelf. Her dad gives her 23 more for her birthday. How many books does Gabby have now?

4. There were 823 people attending a soccer game after 37 people left. How many people were at the game before the people left?

5. Mr. Washington has 44 pencils. He found 37 pencils inside of the cubbies and opened a new pack of 60 pencils. How many pencils does Mr. Washington have in all?

6. Jeff plays Minecraft. On Monday he played for 67 minutes. On Tuesday he played for 32 minutes, and on Wednesday he played for 43 minutes. How many total minutes did Jeff play during the week?

7. Smith Elementary School has 286 boys and 241 girls. What is the total number of students that attend Smith Elementary?

8. Ashley rides her bike to school every day. The ride from her house to her school takes 21 minutes. If she has already been biking for 17 minutes, how much longer does she have to ride before she arrives at school?

9. Jason baked 93 cookies to sell at the school bake sale. He plans to take home whatever cookies he doesn’t sell. If he sold 77 cookies, how many cookies will he take home?

10. A school collects money for T-shirts. Third graders collected $327. Fourth graders collected 138 fewer dollars. How much money did fourth graders collect?

11. Hayden has 610 stickers. There are 250 in a white box and some in a yellow box. How many are in the yellow box?

12. The table shows students’ class points. Which two students’ scores have a difference of 15 points?

13. Ms. Brady has 356 tomato plants. She sells 91 of the plants and gives 49 of the plants away. How many tomato plants does Ms. Brady have left?

14. David’s mom buys apples for his class. There are 5 rows of 4 green apples. There is 1 row of 4 red apples. Fill in the blanks to complete the expressions.

15. A box of chocolates has 14 rows. There are 6 pieces of chocolate in each row. How many pieces of chocolate are in the box?

16. Christy and Jan are playing a card game. Christy has 4 cards and Jan has 4 times as many cards. How many cards do they have together?

17. Emerson is in charge of collecting the basketballs at the end of gym class. There are 6 bins, and 7 basketballs can fit in each bin. How many basketballs are there if each bin is full?

18. Luz had two pages of homework. Each page had five problems on it. How many total problems did she have to complete?

19. Keyanna was drawing on scrap paper. She could fit seven drawings on each page. If she has three pieces of paper, how many drawings can she make?

20. A bakery sells one sugar cookie for $2.00. How much will a dozen sugar cookies cost?

21. Mrs. Smith is getting her classroom ready for the first day of school. She has 25 students in her class. She wants 5 students to sit at every table. How many tables will she need?

22. Alex is organizing his school supplies. He has 141 index cards. He wants to split them into 3 piles.  How many cards will each pile get?

23. Mrs. Blackley’s class plays a review game. The class earns 5 points every time they answer a question correctly. On Monday, the class earns 50 points playing the game. How many questions did the class answer correctly?

24. Maria has 56 gummy bears. She will give all the gummy bears to 8 of her friends. Each friend will get the same number. How many gummy bears will each friend receive?

25. Daniel has 63 coins and 9 piggy banks. If each piggy bank has the same number of coins, how many coins are in each piggy bank?

26. Leslie has 32 dolls in 4 baskets. Each basket has the same number of dolls. How many dolls are in each basket?

27. Levi has 10 fish in his fish tank. 4 fish are goldfish and the rest are minnows. What fraction of the fish are goldfish?

28. Melanie has 8 colored pencils. 3 are green, 2 are yellow, and 3 are blue. What fraction of the pencils are blue?

29. Hannah has a bag of M&M’s. There are 24 M&M’s in the bag. 8 are red, 6 are green, 7 are yellow, and 3 are brown. What fraction of the M&M’s are brown?

30. Mr. Brown needs to order pizza for 18 students. He wants each student to have ¼ of a pizza. How many pizzas should he order?

31. The class took a survey about favorite animals. ¼ of students chose lions as their favorite animal, and ½ of the students chose elephants. The other students chose either sharks or whales. Partition a circle graph to show these results.

32. John wanted a chocolate cake for his birthday. After blowing out the candles, he cut the cake. Out of his 12 party guests, only 6 ate cake. John let his friend Jackson take half the remaining cake home. What fraction of the cake was left over?

33. The area of a rectangle is 72 square units. One side has a length of 9 units. What is the other side length?

34. Monico drew a shape. It was a quadrilateral, and all sides were the same length. Which shape did Monico draw?

35. Gloria is buying a new rug for her bedroom floor. If the floor measures 12 feet x 12 feet, which size rug does she need?

36. The area of Happytown is 42 square miles. If the length is 7 miles, what is the perimeter of the town?

37. Aiden read 2 pages in his chapter book every day for 7 days. The book has 32 total pages. How many pages does Aiden have left to read?

38. Sophia has a twenty dollar bill. She buys six pop-it fidget toys for $2 each. How much money does Sophia have left?

39. There are 10 people at a cookout. Each person will eat 2 hot dogs. There are 8 hot dogs in a package. How many packages are needed?

40. Mrs. Potter bought 160 index cards. She gave the first row 55 index cards, then the second row 72 index cards. How many does she have left to give to the last row?

41. Samantha has 38 markers. She gives 29 markers to her classmates. Then she opens a new pack of 15 markers. How many markers does she have now?

42. There were 18 volleyballs in a bag and 13 volleyballs in a basket. 10 of these were used at recess. How many volleyballs were not used?

43. Mrs. Horton has 1 gallon of milk. She poured out 3 cups of milk. How many cups of milk does she have left?

44. Mark needs to buy yarn for 5 friends to do a science activity. Each friend needs 2 feet of green yarn and 1 foot of purple yarn. How many yards of yarn does Mark need to buy?

45. Nadine’s new jump rope is 4 inches longer than her old jump rope. Her old jump rope was 32 inches long. How long is Nadine’s new jump rope?

46. Dervin lined paper clips up in two rows. Each row was 18 feet long. How many feet of paper clips did Dervin have if he added the two rows together?

47. London started looking for her missing dog at 2:10 pm. It took her 43 minutes to find him. What time did London find her dog?

48. Damon took a train from his house to downtown. The train left the station at 1:08 pm and traveled 33 minutes before arriving downtown. What time did the train arrive?

49. Hannah worked on her homework for 37 minutes. If she started at 7:14 pm, what time did she finish her homework?

50. Kevin started cleaning his room at 6:03 pm. If he finally finished at 6:40 pm, how long did Ned spend cleaning his room?

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" class="arrow-title-img">3rd Grade math word problems with answers - Steps for math problem solving in Grade 3

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Importance of math word problems online practice for 3rd graders

Get more contents on third grade..., math problem solving for grade 3 with solutions and explanations.

We have given our grade 3 math word problems with answers to strengthen your kid’s math concept skills by relating them to everyday life. Because problem-solving requires over one step, we have planned short and straightforward steps in problem-solving in math Grade 3 . These steps will go a long way to enhance your kid’s speed and accuracy in solving many math problems in class and in the real world.

Besides this, our math word problems for grade 3 are straightforward and familiar to our everyday life, thus offering your kids remarkable ways to practice and apply math concepts to everyday situations by providing high-quality resources for math p roblem solving for grade 3 with solutions and explanations .

• Adding three numbers up to four digits word problems Grade 3
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In this first place, you’ll realize that math problem solving will encourage your kids to believe in their ability to always think mathematically, when finding solutions in the real world.

Also, apart from being an enjoyable experience for kids, our grade 3 math problem solving online will provide your kids will exciting strategies vital for solving all grade 3 math word problems always.

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75 Word Problems for 3rd Graders: Ideas For Addition, Subtraction, And More

December 17, 2023 //  by  Seda Unlucay

Develop your 3rd Graders’ math skills with these captivating word problems! Math can be daunting for any individual, so why not add some colorful visuals to engage your kids as you introduce them to the art of problem-solving?

These multi-step word problems incorporate addition , subtraction , multiplication , and division as well as time , money, and fractions – to make the perfect playground for your learners to test their mathematical skills!

1. Jennifer picked 72 cherries and Kim picked 45 cherries. They used 24 cherries to make pies for their school bake sale. How many cherries do they have left?

2. kim had 19 candies and then she bought 23 more candies. she wants to share them between herself and 6 friends. how many candies will each friend get, 3. andrew has 147 marbles. 35 marbles are orange and 52 are purple. the rest of the marbles are yellow. how many yellow marbles are there, 4. sandra and her friend, brenda went shopping. they each bought 10 new dolls. sandra returned 3 of her new dolls to the store. how many dolls do sandra and brenda still have, 5. lauren has 600 pencils. she wants to place them in 10 equal groups. how many pencils will be in each group, 6. stanley and eddy each bought 12 slices of pizza. for dinner, they each ate 2 slices. how many slices do they have now, 7. jim planted 30 rows of 15 tulips. 137 of them are yellow and the rest are red. how many red tulips are there, 8. megan has 8 quarters, 4 dimes, and 7 nickels for bus fare. if a bus ticket costs $1.15 how much money will she have left, 9. sam has 63 stamps from asia, 59 stamps from europe, and 162 stamps from africa in his collection. how many more stamps does he have from africa than asia and europe combined, 10. angie used 3 red ornaments, 5 blue ornaments, and 7 green ornaments to decorate a christmas tree. she has 12 ornaments left. how many ornaments did she have to begin with, 11. jenny and her friends bought 3 boxes of cupcakes. there were 16 cupcakes in each case. james ate 3 cupcakes, stewart ate 5 cupcakes and kim ate 13 cupcakes. how many cupcakes are left, 12. tom finished a 354-piece jigsaw puzzle and stella finished a 567-piece jigsaw puzzle. how many fewer pieces did tom’s puzzle have, 13. stephanie has $217 and derek has $138 to spend. they spend some money and now they have $112 left. how much money did they spend, 14. cassandra ran 15 miles each day for 8 days. then she ran 12 miles each day for two weeks. how many miles did she run altogether, 15. andy’s pencil case weighs 32 grams. his notebook weighs 45 grams more than his pencil case. what is the total weight of his pencil case and notebook, 16. daniel bought 4 packs of chewing gum. there are 9 pieces of gum in each pack. he wants to share the gum evenly with 3 people. how many pieces of gum will each person get, 17. jen climbed 48 steps up to a diving board. she climbed down 5 steps to talk to a friend. then she climbed 12 steps to get to the top. how many steps does the diving board have, 18. there are 78 balls on the playground. 22 are soccer balls and 18 are basketballs. the rest are tennis balls. how many tennis balls are there, 19. tommy made 63 cookies for the bake sale. lindsay made 35 cookies. they sold 22 cookies altogether. how many cookies do they have left, 20. adam found 235 pennies on the playground. he spent 98 pennies. then he found 123 more. how many pennies does he have now, 21. lisa saw 86 animals at the zoo. she saw 54 monkeys, 17 parrots, and some elephants. how many elephants did she see, 22. julia has a crayon collection of 156 crayons. she gave some to her friend emily. now she has 72 crayons left. how many crayons did she give emily, 23. sandy had $225 to buy bracelets. the store was selling 2 packs of bracelets for $5. how many packs can sandy afford to buy, 24. brandon earned $12 an hour mowing the lawn and $15 an hour babysitting. he worked 20 hours mowing the lawn and 18 hours babysitting. how much money did he earn in total, 25. gavin bought 14 pencils. he had $48 before he bought the pencils. after he bought the pencils, he had $20 left. how much did each pencil cost, 26. tina won 160 teddy bears at the carnival. she gave 8 to each of her friends. then she had 32 left. how many friends did she give teddy bears to, 27. billy sold half of his trading cards and then he bought 132 more. now he has 325 trading cards. how many did he have to start with, 28. lacy’s school is going on a field trip. there are 24 kids in each class. there are 8 classes. if 30 kids can fit on a bus, how many buses will they need for their field trip, 29. stephanie had 5 dozen cupcakes. she gave 27 cupcakes to her friend. how many cupcakes does she have left, 30. angela has 1345 stickers. dan has 845 stickers. how many more stickers does angela have than dan, 31. ms. smith went grocery shopping. her groceries cost $82.96. she had coupons worth $22.50. if she paid the clerk $90 for her groceries, how much change would she get, 32. serena had $77. then she bought movie tickets for 8 friends for $4 each. now she wants to buy popsicles that cost $3 each. how many popsicles can she buy, 33. sam had $34. then he received $19 for his birthday. how much money does he need if he wants to buy a bike that costs $98, 34. miranda bought 4 necklaces that cost $13 each. then she gave $16 to her little brother. she started with $105. how much money does she have now, 35. anthony earns $15 every week he does chores. he does chores for 6 weeks. now he wants to buy a gaming console for $114. how much more money does he need, 36. how many sides do 3 triangles, 8 squares and 4 rectangles have, 37. emily saw some chickens on the farm. she counted 56 wings in total. how many chickens did she see, 38. ben picked 18 berries. zane picked 6 times as many berries as ben. how many berries did zane pick, 39. gavin bought 70 apples. he bought twice as many apples as tim. how many apples did tim buy, 40. anita planted 10 rows of carrots with 7 carrots in each row. how many carrots did she plant, 41. a dozen donuts cost $5.50. how much do 7 dozen donuts cost, 42. jennifer made 23 cups of potato salad for the school picnic. at the end of the picnic, there were 4 and a quarter cups of potato salad left. how many cups of potato salad were eaten, 43. emily wants to buy a jar of marbles that costs $2. she has 7 quarters, 5 dimes, and 3 nickels to spend. how much change will she get back, 44. use the fewest bills and coins to make $25.33., 45. mary spent $325 on decorations for her birthday party. she spent $123 on food. how much more money did she spend on decorations than food, 46. there are 74 students in third grade. 23 are in ms. smith’s class, 19 are in ms. park’s class and the rest are in ms. anderson’s class. how many more students are in ms. anderson’s class than in ms. smith’s class, 47. how many days are there in 4 full weeks, 48. rob is 3 years older than his friend andy. andy is twice as old as rob’s brother who is 4 years old. how old is rob, 49. sandy can bake 36 cookies in 30 minutes. how many cookies can she bake in 8 hours, 50. mandy is reading a book with 313 pages in it. she read 54 pages on saturday. then she read 72 more pages on monday afternoon. how many pages does mandy have left to read, 51. there are 35 students in stanley’s class. ⅕ of them bike to school. how many students don’t bike to school, 52. there are 250 animals in a zoo. ⅗ of them are herbivores. how many animals are herbivores, 53. danny is reading a book with 120 pages. he has already read ⅓ of it. how many more pages does he have left to read, 54. jen had $36 to spend. she spent a ¼ on candies and ⅓ on stickers. how much money does she have left, 55. sam brought 80 cupcakes to school. his class ate ¼ of them and ms. smith’s class ate ⅕ of them. how many cupcakes were eaten in all, 56. amy and laura each collected 15 seashells at the beach. amy gave 5 of her seashells to laura. how many seashells do amy and laura have now, 57. max bought 6 comic books. each book costs $3. he started with $25. how much money does max have left, 58. peter has a total of 128 trading cards. 39 of them are from baseball and 56 are from football. the rest are from basketball. how many basketball trading cards does peter have, 59. linda and sue bought 14 bags of candies. each bag contains 10 candies. after a party, there are only 35 candies left. how many candies did they have at the start, 60. bella has a collection of 200 stickers. she gives 8 stickers to each of her friends and then has 80 stickers left. how many friends did she give stickers to, 61. richard has 48 pieces of chewing gum. he gives an equal amount to each of his 4 friends. how many pieces of gum does each friend receive, 62. molly has 9 packs of paper. each pack has 200 sheets. she used some for a project and now has 1050 sheets left. how many packs of paper did she use for her project, 63. david has 72 toy cars. 16 are blue, 30 are red, and the rest are yellow. how many yellow cars does david have, 64. helen baked 150 cupcakes for a bake sale. during the sale, 67 cupcakes were sold and the rest were given away. how many cupcakes were given away, 65. jacob is reading a 600 page book. he read 60 pages each day for the first 4 days. after that, he read 40 pages each day for 8 days. how many pages does he still have to read, 66. fred and george each bought 5 packets of trading cards. each packet contains 15 cards.  if they gave 12 cards to their friend ron, how many cards do they have now, 67. olivia has 450 flowers in her garden. she wants to arrange them in 9 equal bouquets. how many flowers will be in each bouquet, 68. abigail and natalie have $85 to buy presents for their friends. they spent $30 on books and the rest on art supplies. how much did they spend on art supplies, 69. paul has $200 saved. he wants to buy a toy that costs $15. if he buys the toy, how much money will he have left, 70. mr. turner teaches a class of 30 students. one-third of them play basketball and the rest play soccer. how many students play soccer, 71. ava saw some birds in the park. she counted 48 legs in total. how many birds did she see, 72. ethan picked 21 strawberries. his brother, aaron picked twice as many strawberries as ethan. how many strawberries did aaron pick, 73. mandy bought 80 marbles. she bought four times as many marbles as tim. how many marbles did tim buy, 74. sarah planted 12 rows of roses with 5 roses in each row. how many roses did she plant, 75. a dozen balloons cost $6. how much do 9 dozen balloons cost.

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Third Grade Problem-Solving Activities and Exercises

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It's important for kids to learn problem-solving skills because they'll use them in various school subjects, as well as in life in general. Keep reading for sample activities and exercises that you and your child can do at home to improve his or her problem-solving skills.

What Types of Activities Promote Third Grade Problem-Solving Skills?

Giving your child genuine problems to solve can help him or her to see how schoolwork applies to real life. For example, if you're planning a party, you might have your child use his newly developed skills in multiplication and division to figure out the logistics, such as how many tables and chairs will be needed, based on the number of anticipated guests.

Your child also can apply his or her third-grade math skills during everyday events, like visiting the grocery store. While shopping, you can have your child calculate the price of the items you're purchasing to determine if you're staying within a budget. For instance, would it bust your $18 budget if you bought five boxes of cereal that were priced at $4 a box? Your child could practice his or her multiplication skills by determining that $4 x 5 = $20 and then his or her problem-solving skills by noting that this would, indeed, put you over budget.

Additionally, you might challenge your child to complete fun experiments. For example, you could work with your child to design a container that will protect an egg that's dropping from the top of your house. Your child will have to use creative thinking in order to create a safe container.

Problem-Solving Exercises and Solutions

1. A room has an area of 400 feet. What are some possible dimensions for this room?

2. Ken has to be at work by 8:30 am. His office is 30 minutes away, and he wants to stop for coffee, which typically takes 10 minutes. What time should Ken leave his house in the morning?

3. There are too many guests at Karla's party. There are 44 people present, but Karla only has 22 pieces of cake. How can Karla give each of her guests a piece of cake?

Other Articles You May Be Interested In

It's important to understand the components of your child's reading skill requirements, so that you can monitor their progress and be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Read on to learn more about the reading concepts that should be mastered by third graders.

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Examples of Math Problems for 3rd Grade Teachers

Written by Victoria Hegwood

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• Teaching Strategies

Solving Word Math Problems

Why students struggle with word math problems, how to help students master math word problems, make 3rd grade math fun with prodigy.

As adults, many of us chuckle when reading elementary math problems because the idea of Charlie having 87 watermelons paints a funny mental picture. 

But for many students, word math problems can be overwhelming. This is largely because word problems require different skills than traditional math problems. 

And not all children have developed the cognitive and communication skills necessary to solve word problems. 

So, if we know that this is a challenging area for our students, what can we do to help them?

This article will look at students' common problems when solving word math problems and what teachers can do to help them. It will also offer you tips on how to effectively deliver word problems based on topics you are likely teaching about in third-grade math class.

By the end of 3rd grade, students are expected to be able to solve word math problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (four operators). 

Throughout the year, they also learn how to solve two-step problems. This type of problem is one where students will need to solve the first part of the equation and then plug that answer into the second part. 

The other main skill that third graders learn is how to use graphs. Students will be tasked with reading graphs, making their own graphs and using graphs to solve word problems. 

Changing standards and curriculums can make it difficult to keep up with exactly what children should be learning and when. If you want to better understand where your students should be at, check out Komodo Math’s article or Great School’s article on third-grade math skills. 

Let’s go over some examples of these skills to better understand what our students should be learning in the classroom. 

1. Two-Step Problem Example

Let’s start with a division word problem to see an example of a two-step problem. 

Amanda has a jar with 8 chocolate chip cookies and 7 oatmeal cookies. She can only share 3 cookies with each of her friends. How many friends does Amanda have?

Step one is finding out how many cookies Amanda has. To get this answer, 3rd-grade students would need to add together 8 cookies plus 7 cookies. 8+7=15.

Then step two is dividing the number of cookies between her friends. 

15 ÷ 3 = 5. With this equation, the number of people who can be served is determined. Amanda has five friends. 

2. Using three operators: Multiplication, Addition, and Subtraction

Not only do students need to know how to use different types of operators, they also need to be able to decide which operations to use when. Multi-step word problems require this extra layer of thinking. Here is an example.

Sarah bought four bags of oranges at the store. There were 8 oranges in each bag. Sarah ate two oranges after giving three oranges to her friend. How many oranges does Jenny have now?

To find the answer, the word problem must be done in two steps:

Step 1: The number of bags (4) is multiplied by the number of oranges (8) to find the total number of oranges.

4x8 = 32 oranges

Step 2: Subtract the oranges Sarah gave her friend (3) and how many she ate (2) from the total of oranges (32).

32-3-2= 27 oranges.

Sarah has 27 oranges now.

3. Focusing on individual math skills: Time word problems

Understanding time, how it works and how to apply math skills to it, is an essential skill. But it can be one that requires quite a bit of practice to master. Let’s look at an example of a time word problem. 

Eddie started cleaning his room at 8:43 am. If he finally finished at 9:32 am, how long did Eddie spend cleaning his room?

Students first need to understand that there are 60 minutes in 1 hour. Then, they can take 60 minus 43 and add the total to 32 to get the total number of minutes.

60 - 43 = 17

17 + 32 = 49. 

Eddie spent 49 minutes cleaning his room.

4. Word problems with tricky wording: Subtraction vs. Addition

With some word problems, the math skill itself isn’t the tricky part. The difficult part is figuring out what the words in the word problem are trying to tell you. Here’s an example.

There were 353 people attending a baseball game after 31 people left. How many people were at the game before the people left?

In this problem, students need to understand that the math skill this problem is looking to test is addition - not subtraction. Students can add 31 + 353 to get the total number of attendees.

353 + 31 = 384 attendees.

5. Testing different operations: Multiplication Word Problems

Sometimes there are multiple ways to solve math problems, but one way is much easier. 

Susie is making cookies for her third-grade class at school. There are 24 students in her class and she made 3 cookies for each person. How many cookies did Susie make in total?

Students need to understand that multiplication is the easiest solution in order to solve this problem. Multiplying 24 x 3 will provide the correct answer.

24 x 3 = 72 cookies total.

While 3rd grade math word problems can be challenging, many students make similar mistakes. Understanding where students often stumble will allow you to help your students succeed.

Difficulty Reading and Understanding the Problem

In order to solve word problems, students don’t just need math skills. They also need reading comprehension skills. 

If students struggle with reading or can’t understand what the words in the problem mean, they won’t even get to the stage where they can apply what they learned in their math lesson. 

Sometimes students can read the problem step-by-step, but the way that it’s worded can seem tricky and confuse students. They may have difficulty mapping out and visualizing the word math problem. We saw this earlier in problem 4 about the baseball game. 

Seeing Only the Numbers

Another common issue is students only looking at the digit numbers and don’t fully read the word math problem. 

Reading and fully understanding the word problem is essential to knowing what operation to use with the numbers. Students also need to be able to understand what order to do the operations in. These skills are important ones to touch on in your lesson plan. 

Problem 6 in this article gives another example of how students need to be able to use the words in a word problem to decide on steps and operators to use. 

Mastering this skill helps students translate word problems into real-world scenarios as they can take numbers and know how to use them to find a solution.

Lacking Math Vocabulary

A lack of math vocabulary can make it difficult for students to understand what the word math problem is asking. It’s so important to lay a foundation of math vocabulary at the beginning of your lesson plan. 

If students don’t know which math operation to use, they will arrive at the wrong answer on math word problem worksheets.

Lacking Numerical Language Skills

Students can also face extra challenges if they have a math-related learning disability . These common challenges include: 

• Mistakes such as adding or omitting numbers that aren’t originally included in the problems
• Difficulty with abstract concepts like time and direction
• Getting inconsistent results when performing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills
• Inability to visualize math problems
• Difficulty remembering math facts, concepts, rules, formulas, rules and procedures
• Inability to memorize math facts
• Difficulty with understanding left and right
• Confusing operations signs or performing them in wrong order

For further reading on how to help students struggling with math skills, check out this article or this article .

So now that you understand what students may be struggling with, let’s dive into some practical ways to help your students conquer word problems. 

The first step is evaluating where your students are at. This can be easy to do with a formative assessment or third grade math worksheets . Then, you can work through the following steps. 

Formalize Your Approach

You should have a well-defined strategy when it comes to helping students understand how to solve word math problems. Try creating a system that simplifies word math problems. 

Prodigy Math Journey can be an effective tool for you to help students solve word math problems. This game has lots of useful features like the ability to monitor your students’ progress. You can also look at specific skills, like the ability to solve two-step word problems. 

It can be very effective at helping students understand how to use various math operations together, like using addition and subtraction or multiplication division.

Make Sure to Read the Entire Word Problem

A simple step that makes a big difference is emphasizing that students should read the entire word problem before attempting to solve it. 

Sometimes students have a lack of flexibility in how they think about math word problems. This makes them think that every problem can be solved exactly the same way with the same procedures. However, they need to approach each problem as a new challenge. 

Teaching students to read the entire math word problem will give students a better understanding of the problem . And this will give them a better chance of solving it on their own.

Identify and Highlight the Relevant Information

It can also be helpful for you to break the problem down for students. Show them how to focus on the most important parts. 

Make sure that your students can recognize the most important numbers and phrases in math problems so they can concentrate on what matters.

Give Them an Equation Without Numbers

Word math problems can be complex for 3rd graders to understand. Sometimes if you can  present the word math problem without the numbers, your students may be better able to extract the correct information. 

This method can help students understand if the problem is an additional word problem, subtraction word problem, a time word problem or something else. Once the student understands what the problem is asking for, add the numbers back in.

This strategy may be more difficult for first-grade or second-grade students, but third-grade math students are at the appropriate level to grasp word problems without numbers.

Help Them Visualize the Problem

Visuals can be used as an interactive tool that can help students see and understand the problem more fully. Visuals often help students see the real world representation of numbers. 

You can use physical objects, drawings and labels to help students visualize the problem and solve the equation. It’s easier to do this with smaller numbers and may be more difficult if students are doing more advanced operations instead of just basic multiplication or division. 

Identify and Compare Similar Word Problems

You can also use word problems with similar equations to help students analyze and solve word math problems.

Similarities between problems help students gain confidence . With repetition, learners won’t feel repeated frustration as they keep working on new skills. 

Once they feel confident with one type of problem, they will be more excited to tackle new challenges and skills in daily math activities.

Teaching word math problems may feel as daunting to you as it does to you as learning how to do them feels to your students. While there are many challenges, there are also approaches and strategies that can make it easier and more fun for everyone. 

If you’re looking for a great program to make the whole process more fun and less stressful, Prodigy is here to help! Prodigy is a game-based learning tool that can help deliver these word problems through gameplay that puts fun at the heart of learning. 

In addition to being a fun activity that your students will be excited to do, Prodigy has also been shown to reduce students’ math anxiety and build math confidence. It also aligns with US state standards for 1st-8th grades and automatically adapts to each student. 

Ready to get started today? Make a free teacher account here!

3rd Grade Math Word Problems (Addition & Subtraction)

Related Topics: More word problems in Singapore Math

The following are some examples of 3rd Grade Math Word Problems for addition and subtraction that uses the Singapore Math block diagram or modeling problem solving techniques.

3rd-grade math addition word problems

Allen saved $1570. Sally saved $1936 more than Allen. How much did they save altogether?

Step 1: Find how much Sally saved.

1570 + 1936 = 3506

Sally saved $3506.

Step 2: Find how much they saved altogether.

1570 + 3506 = 5076

They saved $5076 altogether.

Subtraction

3rd-grade math subtraction word problems

An oven cost $860. A washing machine cost $135 less than the oven. Find the change received by Ben if he paid the cashier $1000 for the washing machine.

Step 1: Find the cost of the washing machine.

860 – 135 = 725

The cost of the washing machine was $725.

Step 2: Find the change received.

1000 – 725 = 275

He received $275 in change.

More examples of solving 3rd Grade word problems using bar models (1) 134 girls and 119 boys took part in an art competition. How many more girls than boys are there? (2) Mei Lin saved $184. She saved $63 more than Betty. How much did Betty saved? (3) John read 32 pages in the morning. He read 14 pages less in the afternoon. a) How many pages did he read in the afternoon? b) How many pages did he read altogether?

More examples of solving two-step word problems using bar models (1) Jamie picked 17 flowers and Lindsey picked 12. They gave away 20 of the flowers. How many flowers were left? (2) 125 children took part in a mathematics competition. 54 of them were girls. How many more boys than girls were there? (3) Ali collected 137 stamps. He collected 27 stamps less than his sister. How many stamps did they collect altogether?

How to solve two-step word problems using bar models? Example: 50 children attended the birthday party. 13 children left during the first hour. 9 children came in during the second hour. How many children were at the birthday party then?

How to solve a 3rd Grade Math Story Problem with Subtraction using Bar Modeling Example: A shopkeeper sold 659 pens. He sold 53 more pens than pencils. How many pencils did he sell?

How to use the comparison model to solve a given 2-step problem on addition and subtraction? Example: Bakery A sold 2088 muffins. Bakery B sold 621 more muffins than Bakery A. What is the total number of muffins sold by the two bakeries?

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Third Grade (Grade 3) Problem Solving Strategies Questions

You can create printable tests and worksheets from these Grade 3 Problem Solving Strategies questions! Select one or more questions using the checkboxes above each question. Then click the add selected questions to a test button before moving to another page.

• The bells have red bows tied to them.
• A box holds 4 rows of bells.
• Each row has 5 bells.
• How many bells are in the box?

• 8 snowmen have red mittens.
• 5 snowmen have green mittens.
• 7 snowmen have blue mittens.
• How many more snowmen have red mittens than green mittens?

• A toy store has 4 shelves of Santa toys.
• Each of the Santa toys is 5 inches tall.
• There are a total of 28 Santa toys.
• How many Santa toys are on each shelf?

• Taylor's family has 6 stockings hanging by the chimney.
• Cedric's family has 4 stockings hanging by the chimney.
• All of the stockings are red and green.
• How many total stockings are hanging by the chimneys?

• Julia hangs 12 candy canes on the tree.
• Clare hangs 8 snowmen on the tree.
• Alex hangs 9 candy canes on the tree.
• How many candy canes were hung on the tree?
• an equation
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Grade 3 Math Samples

Non-common core, common core, teks (for texas), place value unit.

• Unit Description

Home Towns in Texas

Students use inequality symbols to compare the home town populations of three teams and round population numbers to the nearest hundreds place to determine which team has the greatest combined rounded population.

Insects in Jars

Rounding to the nearest 10, students determine how many insects are let go from glass jars.

The Place Value Unit involves understanding and representing the relative position, magnitude and relationships within the numeration system in order to answer questions such as:

• How can you use the additive property of place value (expanded notation) to decompose the number 54,321? (50,000 + 4,000 + 300 + 20 + 1)  
• How can you use the base ten property of place value to explain the relationship between each of the digits in the number 55,555? (Each number is worth 10 times the number to its right and one-tenth the number to its left.)  
• How can you use the multiplicative property of place value to describe the meaning of each digit in the number 54,321? (Since the 4 is in the thousands place, multiplying the 4 times 1,000 gives the value of the 4 in the number.)  
• What other ways can you use ten thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones to represent a number without changing its value? (Methods might include using objects, pictorial models, and numbers, including non-standard partitioning of the number in a variety of ways.)
• Standard Description

Three Fish Limit

Students determine the number of fish that are caught when each friend catches their three fish limit.

Planting Seeds

Given 84 seeds, students determine how to put the same number of seeds in each pot.

Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

Multiplication Unit

Circles and stars.

Students determine the solution to 6 x 3 and draw a representation of their findings using circles and stars.

Students determine if Amy will get the same total of pom-poms whether she buys packages of four pompoms or packages of seven pompoms.

The Multiplication Unit involves identifying a variety of models to represent the process of multiplication in order to learn how to use it to solve problems. Questions to answer may include:

• How do multiplication situations differ from addition situations?  
• How do equal-sized groups model multiplication situations in the world outside the classroom? What real-world examples of equal-sized groups can you think of?  
• How do arrays and area models represent multiplication situations in the world outside the classroom? What real-world examples of arrays can you think of?  
• Given a multiplication equation, how can you create a situation to match it?

TEKS standards covered: 3.4D, 3.4E, 3.4F, 3.4G

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• Word Problems
• Simple addition

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Addition word problems for grade 3

Simple addition worksheets.

These third grade math worksheets have word problems on simple addition. The focus here is on solving real life situations by using addition.

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