What Is Addition?

🕐 4 min 4 sec 👦 Ages 4–5 🌍 English
Join Owlo and Koko as they discover the fun of addition through acorns! A delightful way to introduce basic math concepts.
Understand the concept of addition Identify numbers in a real-world context Practice simple addition with objects
📖 Story Script
                    Owlo:
                    Good morning, Koko! I see you brought something to school today. What is in that little bag?
                
                    Koko:
                    Good morning, Owlo! I picked acorns from the big oak tree on my way here. I found so many!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Oh, how wonderful! How many did you find?
                
                    Koko:
                    I found three on the ground, and then I found two more near the roots. I put them all in my bag!
                
                    Owlo:
                    So you started with three, and then you found two more. That means you did something very clever without even knowing it.
                
                    Koko:
                    I did? What did I do?
                
                    Owlo:
                    You did addition, Koko! Addition is when you put two groups of things together to find out how many you have in total.
                
                    Koko:
                    Addition? That sounds like a big word. Is it hard?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Not at all! You already did it with your acorns. Let us go to the classroom table and I will show you exactly how it works.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Here we go. Let us take your acorns out and put them on the table. Can you make two little groups for me?
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay! Here are three acorns. And here are two more acorns. They are in two little piles.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Perfect. Now, when we add, we push the two groups together into one big group. Go ahead and do that.
                
                    Koko:
                    I pushed them all together! Now they are one big pile. That feels like magic!
                
                    Owlo:
                    It does feel a little like magic, does it not! And now, how many acorns are in your big pile?
                
                    Koko:
                    One, two, three, four, five! There are five acorns!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly right. Three plus two equals five. That little word, plus, means we are adding two groups together.
                
                    Koko:
                    Plus! So three plus two is five. I like that word. Plus. It sounds friendly.
                
                    Owlo:
                    It is a very friendly word. And we use a little symbol for it too. It looks like a small cross, and we call it the plus sign.
                
                    Koko:
                    Can we try another one? I want to do more adding!
                
                    Owlo:
                    Of course! Let us use something else this time. Can you see those crayons on the shelf? Grab some for us.
                
                    Koko:
                    I got four red crayons and one blue crayon. Is that good?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is perfect. So we have one group of four, and one group of one. When we add them together, how many crayons do we have?
                
                    Koko:
                    One, two, three, four, five! It is five again! Wait, is the answer always five?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is such a smart question. No, the answer changes depending on the numbers you start with. We just happened to get five twice today.
                
                    Koko:
                    Oh, that makes sense. So addition just tells us the total when we put things together.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Yes! The total is the whole amount after you have added everything together. That is a very important word to remember.
                
                    Koko:
                    Total. Total. I like that word too. Today is a good word day.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Every day with you is a good word day, Koko. Addition is something you will use every single day of your life.
                
                    Koko:
                    Like when I want to know how many grapes I have at lunch?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly like that! Or how many friends are playing with you, or how many pages you have read in a book.
                
                    Koko:
                    Wow, I did not know I was already doing addition all the time. I am basically a math expert.
                
                    Owlo:
                    You are well on your way! Now, before we put your acorns away, can you tell me what you learned today about addition?
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay! Addition is when you take two groups of things and put them together to get a total. You use the plus sign, which looks like a little cross. Three plus two equals five, and I already do addition all the time without even knowing it! Next I want to learn about bigger numbers, like what is ten plus ten!
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a wonderful summary, Koko. And ten plus ten is a great thing to explore next time. You should be very proud of yourself today.
                
                    Koko:
                    Thanks, Owlo! I am going to count everything on my way home now.