Try a smaller case
Free 3rd grade math practice · Common Core MP.1 · no ads, no sign-up
What kids practice: Make sense of problems and keep at them (puzzles that need thinking, not a known method). Questions come at 5 levels and adjust as your child plays: three right in a row move up a level, and two misses in a row make them easier.
Problem Solvers: one of six ways to solve a problem you haven't seen before, the kind of thinking math contests build on. Each question comes with Digit's step-by-step help that walks through the strategy, not just the answer.
🔍 How it works
Too big to count? Try a small one first, find the rule, then use it.
Example: At a party, 10 friends each shake hands with every other friend exactly once. How many handshakes are there in all?
- 3 friends: 2 + 1 = 3
- 4 friends: 3 + 2 + 1 = 6
- 10 friends: 9 + 8 + 7 + … + 1 = 45
Answer: 45 handshakes
Try a question
At a party, 8 friends each shake hands with every other friend exactly once. How many handshakes are there in all?
Play “Try a smaller case” in a game
🖨️ Printable worksheet, with an answer key →Where it fits in 3rd grade
Part of Challenge puzzles 🚀, in the order schools usually teach 3rd grade math.
- ← Before: Guess and check
- Next: Odd and even puzzles →
For parents and teachers
agarwalmath is free, with no ads and no chat, and kids use a made-up nickname, never their real name. Questions are read out loud for young kids. Make a free profile to save progress on every device and see it by Common Core standard: Parents & teachers. Teachers can assign this lesson to a class: Teachers' Guide.