3 Thrilling Activities to Add and Subtract Decimals

When I mention “add and subtract decimals,” your mind likely immediately jumps to money. That’s great! … For us, anyway. Your kiddos, however, don’t yet have that real-world connection to drive home the importance of decimals.

Decimals are one of those mathematical concepts that tend to evoke a feeling of apprehension or even outright fear in upper elementary students, just like fractions. By the time they get to your classroom, they’ll have heard all about the horrors of decimals on the playground. It’s like long division, but worse—there are no easy remainders here!

Despite the moaning and groaning that’s sure to fill your math block, students will still have to learn to add and subtract decimals up to the hundredths place in order to comply with Common Core. Since it’s not a question of if, it becomes a question of how–how can we help students learn to add and subtract decimals with the least amount of pain possible?

Thankfully, I have answers. Three of them, in fact! Three engaging math activities that are hands-on with real-world connections; perfect for replacing your students’ anxiety with enthusiasm! Setting your kiddos up for success means building a strong foundation for lifelong learners rather than allowing them to live in fear of the daunting decimal.

Let’s dive in to a few ways you can teach your math classroom to add and subtract decimals with minimal struggle!

Activities for Learning to Add and Subtract Decimals

1. Decimal Shopping Spree

In this activity, we’ll simulate a shopping trip in order to demonstrate the real-world applications of learning to add and subtract decimals to the hundredths place—or, in other words, learning to use money!

To carry out this shopping spree, you’ll need play money with decimal denominations, such as $0.10, $0.50, $1.00, and $5.00. You can find these on Amazon or simply make your own! There are plenty of lovely clipart sets floating around out there!

You’ll also need paper and pencil for price tags as well as calculations. Finally, you’ll need a variety of classroom items, handmade items, or even just printed pictures of items to serve as “goods” that students can purchase.

To start off, each student should receive an equal amount of money and then be divided into small groups. Each group will be assigned a “shop” with a unique theme or type of product that they sell. Students can create their own products or services for the shop by drawing pictures (or using images provided by you).

Each “shop” should also set prices for their product, making sure to include decimals (e.g., $2.75 rather than just $3.00). Make sure they keep in mind everyone’s starting budget so nothing is impossible to buy! Then, students will rotate between the role of shopkeeper and customer. As customers, they can browse shops and use their play money to purchase items.

In order to purchase items from a shop, students must calculate the total cost of their products and hand over the correct amount of money. The shopkeeper must then provide the correct amount of change in return.

Once you feel enough time has elapsed and everyone has had an opportunity to play both customer and shopkeeper, students should return to their groups to calculate their total spending. They will practice adding decimals to find their total amounts spent, and subtracting decimals to determine how much money is left. Then, groups should work together to calculate their total sales and the change they made in order to find their net profit.

Afterward, host a classroom discussion about the experience. Each “shop” should share out their total sales, the change they made, and their net profit, demonstrating their decimal calculations. Then, brainstorm reasons why it’s important to accurately add and subtract decimals, especially when it comes to money!

You can also bring up rounding. Ask probing questions, such as “When is it okay to round when you’re using money? Would rounding be helpful or harmful to the customer? What about the business?” This highlights the importance of using specific decimals rather than simply rounding to whole numbers for easier calculations.

2. Decimal Planet Exploration

Since money is one of the best ways to explore that real-world connection with decimals out to the hundredths place, let’s continue that trend! For this activity, you’ll need more of the same play money as described above, but in larger denominations. Why? Because your kiddos are about to blast off!

Students are going to take on the role of astronauts on a mission to explore a distant “decimal planet.” Divide your classroom into small teams of 4-5 astronauts, each representing a crew with different roles, such as navigator, engineer, scientist, and so on. Each crew will be given a budget with decimal values (so something like $50.75 rather than simply $50.00) to purchase equipment and supplies for their mission, provided as play money.

Then, you’ll set up different “supply stations” around the classroom, each with items priced in decimals, such as oxygen tanks for $5.50 or space food for $2.25. Teams must decide what they need for a successful mission and calculate the total cost of their items in order to stay within their budget. Of course, students should be sure not to spend all their money on preparation… Who knows what might happen during their adventure?

Once students blast off, hand out a series of “mission scenarios” that teams will encounter on “Decimal Planet.” Each scenario should require teams to solve problems using addition and subtraction of decimals. Scenarios can include situations like fuel consumption calculations, resource allocations, unexpected expenses, or scientific discoveries with measurements in decimals.

Ultimately, as each crew progresses through their scenarios, they should keep a “journey log” recording their decisions, calculations, and remaining budget. The team should work together by checking each other’s calculations for accuracy and discussing different strategies for managing their resources. No one should be the only one doing all the math! If that’s something you’re concerned about, maybe check out a few different ways to group your students.

At the end of the activity, each team should present a summary of their mission: the equipment they chose, the challenges they faced regarding decimal calculations, and how they were able to add and subtract decimals to solve their problems. They should also present their final budget, showing how much money they spent as well as how much is left over.

After the activity presentations, facilitate a class discussion (using student discourse!) on the importance of decimal knowledge in real-world scenarios such as budgeting and resource management. Sure, humans aren’t currently blasting off to “Decimal Planet,” but using a budget to prepare for upcoming expenses is something every business faces on the daily! Students should also reflect on the teamwork aspect of the activity and explore how cooperative learning helped them with problem-solving.

3. Decimals in Motion

Now, we’ve been sitting long enough… Let’s get those kiddos moving! Combining decimals and dancing may seem a bit unintuitive at first glance, but your students will be engaged with every step.

For this activity, you’ll need to develop a list of dance moves with assigned decimal values. For example, a spin may be 0.25, a jump could be 0.10, and a step could be 0.05. There should be enough variety to prevent confusion, but the moves shouldn’t be overly-complicated, either. Your kiddos aren’t professional dancers!

Once again, divide your students into small groups. Each group will create their own unique dance sequence after some discussion, being sure to allow every member to contribute to the choreography. For each group, come up with a unique total number that the decimal value of the moves should add up to, such as exactly 1.00 or 1.50. Be sure to encourage creativity and inclusion so that every group member is actively participating… But your kiddos already do that, right? 😉

After allowing enough time for dance practice and appropriate decimal calculations, each group should perform their dance in front of the class. Afterwards, other students should try to guess the total decimal value of the dance based on the dance moves they used. Then, the performing group reveals the actual sum and then performs their dance again, with the audience adding up the dance moves to confirm that the group reached their given sum.

Once every dance squad has performed and calculated their sums, engage the class in a discussion about the experience. Focus on how they approached the different methods to add and subtract decimals in a practical, physical context. What challenges did they face? How did they overcome them?

Ultimately, providing your math classroom with real-life scenarios and unique hands-on experiences is sure to teach them to add and subtract decimals in a manner they won’t soon forget. Engagement with math is a necessity, especially when it comes to daunting topics such as learning to add and subtract decimals.

Still, you can’t simply dance the decimals away—they’re here to stay! When your kiddos are ready for pencil and paper action, consider my math workshop unit geared to explore how to add and subtract decimals. Or, since it’s that time of year… Maybe a holiday-themed activity is more apt: add and subtract decimals to build this Christmas tree!

Regardless of how you choose to present ways to add and subtract decimals to your math classroom, I have no doubt that you’ll do what’s best by your kiddos. After all, you know your classroom and its needs best! Engage your upper elementary students and decimate those daunting decimals!

What decimal activities do you use in your classroom? Let me know in the comments!