Free First Grade Math Test- Practice Questions and Answer Key

What Your Kid Actually Needs to Know for First Grade Math

Most parents grab whatever worksheet they find online and call it a day. That's not a test. That's busy work. A real first grade math assessment checks if your kid understands number sense, basic addition and subtraction, patterns, shapes, and measurement—not just if they can copy numbers off a page.

This guide gives you free practice questions that mirror what schools actually use, plus a complete answer key. Use it to see where your kid stands, not to stress them out.

What First Graders Are Expected to Know

By the end of first grade, kids should be able to:

• Count to 120 and read numbers up to 120
• Add and subtract numbers within 20
• Understand place value (tens and ones)
• Compare two-digit numbers using greater than, less than, and equal to
• Measure objects using non-standard units
• Tell time to the hour and half hour
• Identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes
• Recognize and extend simple patterns
• Read and interpret simple graphs

If your kid struggles with half of this list, that's useful information. If they ace most of it, move them up. Don't waste time on material they've already mastered.

Free First Grade Math Practice Questions

Section 1: Number Sense and Counting

Question 1: What number comes after 67?

Question 2: Count backward from 20: 20, 19, 18, ___, ___, ___

Question 3: Which number is larger: 45 or 54?

Question 4: Write this number in expanded form: 83

Section 2: Addition Within 20

Question 5: 7 + 5 = ___

Question 6: 9 + 4 = ___

Question 7: 8 + 8 = ___

Question 8: Use the number line to solve: 6 + 7 = ___

0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20

Section 3: Subtraction Within 20

Question 9: 15 - 8 = ___

Question 10: 12 - 5 = ___

Question 11: 18 - 9 = ___

Question 12: There were 14 apples. 7 were eaten. How many are left?

Section 4: Place Value

Question 13: In the number 29, how many tens? How many ones?

Question 14: Which is worth more: 3 dimes or 25 pennies?

Question 15: Draw circles to show the number 47 using tens and ones blocks.

Section 5: Comparing Numbers

Question 16: Fill in the blank: 36 ___ 63

Question 17: Which group has MORE? Group A: 42    Group B: 39

Section 6: Patterns and Shapes

Question 18: What comes next? 🔵🔴🔵🔴🔵___

Question 19: Name this shape: a figure with 4 equal sides and 4 corners

Question 20: How many sides does a triangle have?

Section 7: Measurement and Time

Question 21: Which is longer: a pencil or a book? (Draw your answer)

Question 22: What time does the clock show? (Draw a clock showing 3:00)

Question 23: Which holds MORE water: a cup or a bucket?

Section 8: Data and Graphing

Question 24: Look at the tally chart below. Which fruit got 5 tallies?

Answer Key

Question 1: 68

Question 2: 17, 16, 15

Question 3: 54 is larger

Question 4: 80 + 3

Question 5: 12

Question 6: 13

Question 7: 16

Question 8: 13 (jump from 6 to 13 on the number line)

Question 9: 7

Question 10: 7

Question 11: 9

Question 12: 7 apples

Question 13: 2 tens, 9 ones

Question 14: 3 dimes (30 cents) is worth more than 25 pennies

Question 15: 4 tens rods and 7 ones cubes

Question 16: 36 < 63

Question 17: Group A (42) has more

Question 18: 🔴

Question 19: Square

Question 20: 3 sides

Question 21: Book is longer (student-drawn answer expected)

Question 22: 3:00 (student-drawn answer expected)

Question 23: Bucket

Question 24: Banana

How to Score This Test

Give 1 point per correct answer. Here's the breakdown:

Free First Grade Math Resources Compared

Not all free resources are worth your time. Here's a quick comparison:

How to Use This Test Without Wrecking Your Kid's Confidence

Don't treat this like a pass-or-fail exam. Here's how to make it useful:

• Do it in chunks. Don't dump 24 questions on a first grader. Break it into 2-3 sessions of 8-10 questions each.
• Stay neutral. "Let's find out what you know" works better than "This is a TEST."
• Praise effort, not correctness. "You worked hard on that" beats "You got it right."
• Focus on patterns in mistakes. If they miss all the subtraction questions, that's the problem area—not individual questions.
• Don't compare to other kids. Compare to their previous performance only.

When to Get Extra Help

If your first grader consistently struggles with:

• Counting past 20
• Understanding that 15 - 7 is different from 7 - 15
• Recognizing numbers out of order (random排列)
• Any section where they scored below 50%

...then talk to their teacher. A few sessions with a math specialist beats months of frustrated home practice.

The Bottom Line

This test tells you where your kid stands. That's it. Don't turn it into a judgment. Use the score to make decisions: what to practice, when to move up, when to get help.

Download or print the questions. Time it loosely. Grade it honestly. Then move on to fixing the gaps.