2nd Grade Making Change Word Problems Worksheet: Paid, Spent, Change Back

Watch a seven-year-old pay at a counter and you will see the puzzled look when coins come back: why does the cashier give money too? This 2nd grade making change word problems worksheet answers that question nine times. Each story names what someone bought and what they handed over. Barbra spends $2.05 at the grocery store and pays with a five dollar bill. Lori buys a 45 cent pencil with 50 cents, and Sonia buys a teddy bear for 95 cents with one dollar. Your child finds the change each time. A second page gives the answer key, with every step written out.

Why making change is subtraction in disguise

Change is what is left once the price is paid. So every story on this page is a subtraction: the amount paid minus the price. However, many adults never subtract at the till. They count up from the price to the amount paid, coin by coin.

Also, both ways reach the same answer, and seeing that link is the real lesson. For example, from 79 cents, one penny makes 80, and five more cents makes 85.

The page mixes cents and dollars, so your child also practices writing amounts like $2.95 with the point in the right place. Two skills, one page.

At the table: stories 3 and 8

Start with story 6, Sonia and her teddy bear. Ask, "How much more is a dollar than 95 cents?" It is a gentle way in.

Story 3 has a hidden step. Asher buys two candy bars, and many children subtract the price of only one. Instead of correcting, ask, "How many bars did he buy? What did both cost?"

Story 8 asks a yes or no question before the amount. Gina has four quarters, so let your child lay out four real or drawn quarters and cover them with two prices. Then ask, "Is anything left over?" Also, reading each story twice before writing helps your child spot what the cashier was given.

Playing shop with real coins

Making change clicks when your child plays the cashier. Set out a few toys with price tags, give yourself a dollar bill, and let them give the change back in coins. Then swap roles.

At a real store, ask before you pay, "If I give a five dollar bill, what will I get back?" and check the receipt together.

Finally, a board game like Chutes and Ladders trains the same counting up: from square 79 to square 85 is how many moves?

Once you finish the page, check it with the answer key and praise the method: "You counted up from the price. That is how real cashiers do it."