Raccoon Theme Regrouping Double Digit Addition

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Second grade.  They say it’s the old third grade in public schools.  My second grader is our oldest, so I’ve no previous school years to compare the class work or curriculum to.  We are plowing through the first few months of school though.  We are well into a routine with schedules, homework, and have only missed the bus once.  (This is our best year so far in that area!)  



While my second grader might be doing the stuff that third graders used to do, she is a trooper.  She works hard and she loves her teacher and her friends.  I mean, she even comes home from a long day of school and PLAYS school with her siblings.  While they have zero interest in regrouping addition problems, they are cooperative little students.

 Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!

Second Grade Raccoon Craft

This Raccoon craft made the perfect tool to practice a math skill with my second grader: Regrouping Double Digit Addition Problems.  It was a fun craft to make alongside my daughter and turned out to be a pretty fun second grade craft, too!

Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!

 

What is Regrouping Double Digit Addition?

So, we actually did a regrouping activity last year when my little future teacher was in first grade.  That activity was about regrouping single digits in addition.  Now, a whole year later, we’re regrouping double digits and feel like big shots.  Ok, not really.  But it IS a whole other column of numbers that we are adding, here! 
 
Now, I’ve said it before.  I am not a teacher by trade.  In fact, I’m an Occupational Therapist.  So I don’t have a huge understanding of teaching techniques or educational standards and the like.  But, I do have the motivation that only a mom has when it comes to making homework fun, and easy.  I am so over pulling teeth to get homework done.  Let’s do a creative and playful activity to build on school-found skills and I’m good.  And really, when we pull in my OT-ness to the play and fun, it’s even better.  Fine motor skills, here we come!

Ok, ok back to what is regrouping question.   Essentially, Regrouping in math is borrowing or carrying a digit to aid in a math operation.  In addition, digits from the ones column are carried to the tens column to add single or double digits. My second grader is adding double digit numbers.  When the ones column of those double digits add up to more than 9, there is another tens to add to the tens column.  

Regrouping Raccoon Math Activity

Now, to practice regrouping double digit addition problems, you could do page after page of worksheets.  But if your kiddo is like mine (and any other kid out there), that will not go over well.  We made this sneaky little raccoon clothes pin craft to practice regrouping in math practice.
 
It’s a pretty easy craft that your second grader will love to try.  You’ll need just a few materials: (These are affiliate links.)

Newspaper
glue
scissors
Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
Start by cutting a strip of newspaper to fit on the front of the clothes pin.  You’ll also want to cut a small circle for the raccoon’s head, and a tail-ish shape.  Glue the newspaper strip to the front of the clothes pin.  From the black cardstock, cut small strips to make the raccoon’s eye mask, tow triangle ears, and stripes for the tail.  Glue all of these paper pieces into place.  Add the googly eyes and draw on a cute little smile.  That raccoon is done and ready to help with regrouping. 


Regrouping Raccoon and Double Digit Addition

We decided that since raccoons are pretty sneaky and sometimes steal garbage from trash cans, that our Regrouping Raccoon would be the perfect buddy for stealing numbers from the ones column and placing them over in the tens column.  We practiced with a problem or two and added up the ones column.  If the total had 10 or more, than that sneaky little raccoon helped us move the ten over to the tens column.  Fun, right?
 
Now, grab a sheet of regrouping addition problems.  We used a homework page, but you could just write out problems on a piece of paper.  As my daughter did the double digit math problems, I had her clip the raccoon onto the edge of the paper if it was a regrouping problem.  For the problems that did not require regrouping, we just left the raccoon in place.  

Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
We ended up making a few more raccoon pinch clothes pins and had a family of raccoons!
Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
 
 
 
Be sure to see what the other bloggers in the second grade blogging team have done with this week’s theme of Forest Animals.
 
 
Forest Animals ABC Order from School Time Snippets
 
More second grade activities you will love:
 
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