Swap the empties (word problems)
A shop swaps a set number of empties, from 2 to 5, for one new juice box, milkshake, yoghurt or chocolate bar. A child finishes theirs, swaps the empties, finishes the new ones, and keeps going until there are too few to swap. The student works out how many they had altogether, how many came from swapping, or how many empties are left at the end.
The new ones leave empties too, which is easy to forget. In about half the questions the child also has a few saved or found empties to add in. The working is a table with one row per round.
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What changes each time
- Swap 2, 3, 4 or 5 empties for 1 new one
- Up to 100 to start with, sometimes with 1 to 9 extra empties
- How many altogether, how many from swaps, or how many empties left
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