2nd Grade Count and Add Pictures to 20 Worksheet: Write Each Sum

Put twelve carrots in front of a seven-year-old, ask for the total, and you will often hear a count that starts again at one for the second group. This 2nd grade count and add pictures to 20 worksheet gives that habit room to grow into something faster. Six rows each hold two groups: purple circles, red parrots, rabbits, carrots, cats and orange chairs. Your child counts both groups, adds them and writes the sum on the line. The totals run from 12 to 20, so every row crosses ten. This kind of picture addition keeps the numbers visible. On the solution page, the first row is worked out with every circle numbered. A second page gives the answer key.

Why counting on beats counting all

Counting every picture from one is called counting all. It works, yet it is slow, and long rows invite mistakes. The next step is to count on: hold the first group in your head, then keep counting from there.

This page is built for that move. In the first row, the small group comes first: two circles, then ten. A child who starts from ten and adds two finishes long before one who counts every circle. So the row quietly asks which group should come first.

The rabbits help in a different way. They sit in neat rows of five, so two tens appear without touching each one. Spotting that structure is how sums up to 20 become quick. Structure saves time.

At the table: the parrots and the cats

Start with the parrots. Six on the left and nine on the right make a fair first test. Ask, "How many on the left? Now keep going."

The cats are where slips happen. Sixteen cats fill two rows on the left, while only two sit on the right. A child may count the big group again and lose the place halfway. Point to the left side and say, "Two rows of eight. Do you know that one?"

For the chairs, watch the layout: seven on one side and twelve on the other. If the total lands on 18 or 20, ask your child to touch each chair once. Then count together. Finally, a light pencil tick on each counted picture keeps the place.

Crackers, toy cars and I Spy

Picture addition moves easily into the kitchen. Put seven crackers on one plate and five on another, then ask how many there are in all and who can count on. At tidy-up time, line up toy cars in two groups and add them the same way.

Keep the totals below 20 so the game stays light. Also play a counting round of I Spy on a walk: "I spy three dogs and four birds. How many animals?"

Once you finish the page, check the six sums with the answer key together. Name what your child did well: "You started from the bigger group. That saved you time."