2nd Grade Making Change Worksheet

Change is what’s left over

Making change is a subtraction story: you pay more than something costs, and the change is the difference. Students who picture it as money paid minus cost (or who count up from the price to the amount paid) handle it confidently — and it’s one of the most genuinely useful math skills they’ll practice.

How to use it

Two reliable strategies: subtract (50 − 40 = 10) or count up from the cost to the amount paid (from 40, “fifty” is ten more). Watch for students who add instead of subtract. This builds on counting coins and uses subtraction skills.