Grade 2 Mental Maths Worksheets — Add & Subtract to 100
Grade 2 mental maths moves past the facts to 20 and into two-digit numbers. These sheets drill the two jumps that matter most: crossing a ten when adding, and exchanging a ten when subtracting. Adding in Your Head and Taking Away in Your Head each start on the questions that need no carry or exchange and step up to the ones that always do; five more skills sit beside them — Number Bonds, Doubles and Halves, Near Doubles, Adding 9 and 11, and Mixed Chains such as 47 + 18 − 25.
Every question is designed to be answered without written working — the instruction line says so, and there is no calculator allowed. Choose how many questions you want, add the answer key for instant marking, and keep the link to reprint the same set for a re-test or a second child.
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Mental Maths · Grade 2
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Grade 2 · 2 pages · A4More Grade 2 mental maths skills
Each one generates a different kind of question, with its own three levels and answer key.
- Adding in Your HeadAdd two numbers without writing anything down, first without carrying and then with.
- Taking Away in Your HeadSubtract in your head, including the exchange that trips most children up.
- Number BondsPairs that make 10, 20 or 100 — the recall every other sum is built on.
- Doubles and HalvesDouble a number, halve a number, then work backwards from the answer.
- Near DoublesUse a double you already know to answer the question next door.
- Adding 9 and 11Jump a whole ten and adjust by one — the fastest way to add or take away 9 and 11.
- Mixed ChainsTwo or three operations in a row, held in your head and worked left to right, bracket first where there is one.
What each level generates
Grade 2 adding in your head — the exact skill behind each difficulty setting, straight from the generator.
- Level 1Sums with no carrying
- Level 2Sums that carry
- Level 3Add three numbers
Grade levels follow the progression common to most English-language curricula — not one specific national curriculum. Every level shows exactly what it generates, so you can check the fit with your own program. See the full scope & sequence →
What Grade 2 mental maths should cover
The headline expectation for Grade 2 is confident addition and subtraction within 100, held in the head where the numbers allow it. That splits into three habits: adding a one-digit number to a two-digit number across a ten (38 + 7), subtracting across a ten (43 − 8), and handling two two-digit numbers (48 + 15, 72 − 39). Adding 9 and 11 drills the small jumps in both directions, by going to the nearest ten and adjusting by one; Adding in Your Head and Taking Away in Your Head cover the two-digit pairs, and the second level of each is built so every question really does carry or exchange — level one is the easy no-carry case, which is where to start.
A realistic benchmark is 30 questions at level two in about eight minutes with a small number of errors. If a child is accurate but slow, that is normal at this stage and improves with short daily sessions; if the errors cluster on subtraction, drop to level one of Taking Away in Your Head for a week, where no column needs an exchange at all.
Strategies worth teaching before speed
Mental methods for two-digit work are different from the written column method, and children need to be taught them explicitly. Jump: 48 + 15 becomes 48 + 10 = 58, then 58 + 5 = 63. Split: 48 + 15 becomes 40 + 10 and 8 + 5, then recombine. Compensate: 48 + 19 becomes 48 + 20 − 1. For subtraction, counting up from the smaller number is often the fastest route: 72 − 39 is 1 to 40, then 32 more, so 33.
Mixed Chains strings three numbers together, which is where a strategy either holds or collapses. Ask the child to say the halfway total out loud before finishing — hearing "65, then take 25" makes the working visible without writing anything down, and it shows you exactly where a mistake crept in.
Frequently asked questions
▸What should a Grade 2 child know in mental maths?
Adding and subtracting within 100 in their head: two-digit plus one-digit across a ten, two-digit plus two-digit with a carry, and subtraction that needs an exchange. These sheets generate all three across their seven skills, plus three- and four-number chains on the Mixed Chains sheet.
▸What does "bridging ten" mean?
It means crossing a multiple of ten during the calculation, as in 38 + 7 or 43 − 8. It is harder than 32 + 5 because the tens digit changes, so the second level of Adding in Your Head and of Taking Away in Your Head is built to bridge every time rather than avoid it.
▸How many questions should a Grade 2 sheet have?
Twenty to thirty is a good session. Use the stepper to size it, and press Shuffle for a completely fresh set at the same skill and level tomorrow — the difficulty stays identical, so daily progress is easy to compare.
▸How do the levels differ at Grade 2?
The level changes how hard one skill is, not which skill you get. On Adding in Your Head, level 1 pairs two two-digit numbers with no carrying, level 2 makes the ones column carry every time, and level 3 adds three numbers. Everything stays within 100, and Mixed Chains is the skill that strings numbers together, such as 52 + 18 − 34.