Jungle Word Trek above teaches kids to plan a story problem before solving it: what do we know, what are we finding, and which steps get us there? Choose a grade from 2nd to 6th — the stories grow from two-step adding and subtracting to money, fractions, ratios and percents.
Choosing the operations — and the order to do them in
Two-step problems (2nd–3rd grade) and multi-step problems (4th grade and up)
Money, volume, fractions, ratios and percents (5th–6th grade)
Try one together: a two-step story
“Mia has 4 bags with 6 bananas in each. She gives away 5 bananas. How many are left?”
Plan: first find how many she has, then take away 5.
Step 1: 4 × 6 = 24 bananas.
Step 2: 24 − 5 = 19. Mia has 19 bananas left.
Tips for parents and teachers
Read it twice: once for the story, once for the numbers.
Ask “What is the question asking for?” before doing any math.
Check if the answer makes sense in the story — 190 bananas would be a red flag!
Matching school standards
These games line up with these Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:
2.OA.A.1 Solve one- and two-step word problems within 100.
3.OA.D.8 Solve two-step word problems using the four operations.
4.OA.A.3 Solve multistep word problems with whole numbers.
6.RP.A.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world problems.
Questions parents ask
Why do kids struggle with word problems?
Often the math is fine but the planning isn’t — kids grab the numbers and guess an operation. Teaching them to name what they know and what they need first makes a big difference.
How can I help my child with word problems?
Have them retell the story in their own words, draw a quick picture, and say the plan out loud before calculating.