2nd grade challenge word problems

A free printable sheet of 8 Grade 2 challenge word problems, with a hint for a grown-up under each one and an answer key worked out by Kizupi’s math engine. Press New sheet for another.

By The Kizupi team · Updated November 4, 2026

Grade 2 challenge word problems

Name: ____________________

Kizupi wants the biggest 3-digit house number whose digits add up to 13. What is it?
Hint for a grown-up: What is the biggest digit we can put in the hundreds place?
Kizupi finds a magic square on a castle door. Its middle row is 11, 12 and 13. What number does every row, column and diagonal add up to?
Hint for a grown-up: If we add up one full row, what do we find?
Kizupi numbers the trail markers 1, 2, 3, and so on, up to 19. How many digits does Kizupi write in all?
Hint for a grown-up: How many digits does marker 7 need? How many does marker 10 need?
A crate holds 3 lunch boxes. Each lunch box holds 2 snack bags. Each snack bag has 2 cookies. How many cookies are in 3 crates?
Hint for a grown-up: How many cookies are in one lunch box?
Kizupi has three digit cards: 6, 9 and 4. Kizupi makes the biggest 3-digit number possible, and then the smallest. What is the difference between them?
Hint for a grown-up: For the biggest number, which card goes in the hundreds place?
Mia, Bo and Tom have 10, 13 and 2 stickers, one number each. Tom has the most. Mia has fewer than Bo. How many stickers does Bo have?
Hint for a grown-up: Tom has the most. Which number is that?
A snail wants to climb to the top of a 21 cm lemonade jug. Each day it climbs up 6 cm. Each night it slides back down 1 cm. On which day does the snail reach the top?
Hint for a grown-up: How far up is the snail after one day and one night?
I am a 2-digit number. My tens digit is 3. My ones digit is 3 more than my tens digit. What number am I?
Hint for a grown-up: What is 3 + 3?

From kizupi.com/tools · Grade 2, sheet 2066

What these challenge problems cover

Each sheet draws 8 problems from 21 Grade 2 challenge word problems in Kizupi’s published lessons, a different skill for each where it can. Only problems that work on paper are used.

Star puzzle · Heads and legs · Magic squares · Who has which? · Number riddles

Where this fits in 2nd grade

The Common Core math standards say Grade 2 time should go to these areas [1]:

Place value to 1,000
Fluent adding and subtracting
Measuring with standard units
Describing and analyzing shapes

For a sheet that mixes every Grade 2 skill, use the 2nd grade math word problems page.

Questions parents ask

What are 2nd grade challenge word problems?

Puzzle problems a step past the usual ones, where the method isn’t given: working backward, making an organized list, guess and check, or spotting a pattern. These sheets draw from 5 kinds of Grade 2 puzzles in Kizupi: Star puzzle, Heads and legs, Magic squares, Who has which?, Number riddles.

Is the worksheet free?

Yes. No account and no email. Press New sheet for another set, and print as many as you like.

Are the answers right?

Every answer is computed with exact arithmetic by the same engine that checks children’s answers in Kizupi, not typed in by hand.

What if my child gets stuck?

That is expected: these are meant to take a while. Read the problem aloud, try it with smaller numbers or a quick drawing, and use the hint under each problem. Save the answer key for the end.

Sources

Common Core State Standards Initiative, Grade 2 introduction. Read October 27, 2026.

Want a tutor that asks “how do you know?” every day? Kizupi’s pixel owl reads each problem aloud, hints one small step at a time and never hands over the answer. Grades 1–6.

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