Little Learners · Ages 5 to 7
Class Survey Add and Compare
Read a class survey bar graph, then total and compare the bars. Five levels of printable practice with answer keys.
The learning journey
Every activity is one step. Here is where this one fits.
- PlayLearn the idea in a game
- Practise(you are here)Lock it in on paper
- ReviewCome back and keep it sharp
- MasterTake on a harder challenge
- AchieveEarn a certificate
About Class Survey Add and Compare
A bar graph is only worth printing if the questions genuinely require it, and that is the design constraint here: not one question on this page can be answered without reading the bars. The graph shows a class survey of favourite activities, and the questions move through the full range of what a chart can be asked. Reading a single bar comes first. Comparing two follows. Then totalling several bars, then finding the difference between the tallest and the shortest, then combining a total with a comparison in one question. The levels do not simply enlarge the numbers — they change which of those tasks appear, so the higher levels ask for genuinely harder thinking rather than the same thinking with bigger values. Every bar carries a different value, so questions like "which was chosen most often" always have exactly one answer. Each level prints as a clean A4 sheet in black and white with the graph at the top and ruled working space beneath each question, and downloads with its own separate answer key.
Common questions
- Can any question be answered without the graph?
- No. Every question on the page requires reading the bars.
- How do the levels get harder?
- They change which task appears — reading one bar, comparing two, totalling, differencing, then combining — rather than just using bigger numbers.
- Can two bars be the same height?
- No. Every bar carries a different value, so "which was chosen most often" always has exactly one answer.
- Is an answer key included?
- Yes. Every level downloads with its own separate answer key PDF.
A hand for grown-ups
- Before you start
- Have something countable nearby. Being able to check "3 and 2 really is 5" by counting builds trust in the maths.
- While they work
- If a sum is hard, suggest counting on from the bigger number rather than counting both from one. It is a real strategy, not a crutch.
- Afterwards
- Try one together out loud, talking through how you worked it out. Hearing an adult think aloud is genuinely useful.
- Watch out for
- Counting both numbers from one every time. Nudge gently towards "start at the bigger one and count on".
- Away from the screen
- Add up small shopping items, or dots on two dice. Board games with dice are addition practice in disguise.
Where to go next
Chosen by the skills this activity practises.