What is addition?

Have you ever collected things — like stickers, apples, or toy cars? When you put two groups of things together to count them all, that is called addition! Addition is a way of joining numbers together to make a bigger number. The answer you get when you add is called the sum.

Here is a cozy example: Imagine you have 3 strawberries on your plate, and your friend gives you 2 more strawberries. Now you put them all together and count — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! You have 5 strawberries in all. We write this as: 3 + 2 = 5. The little + sign is called a plus sign, and it means we are adding!

Here is another example you might see every day: You blow out 4 candles on a birthday cake, and then someone lights 1 more candle as a surprise. How many candles are there now? We add: 4 + 1 = 5. See how we joined the two groups together to find the total? That is all addition is — joining and counting!

🌟 Reflection question: Can you think of something at home — like crayons, books, or stuffed animals — where you could put two small groups together and count how many you have in all? What would you add?