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Real World Maths

How to make a maths quest in the supermarket

Use prices, weights, packs, offers and lists as real-life problems.

Quick answer

You can create a fun maths quest in the supermarket by using real items, prices, weights, and offers to turn shopping into a learning adventure that helps children practice counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and problem-solving.

Learning outcome

By the end of this page, you will be able to use supermarket shopping to solve real-life maths problems, like working out how much money you need, how many items you can buy, or how to share items fairly. Success signs:
  • You can add up prices of items to find the total cost
  • You can work out how much change you should get
  • You can compare weights or quantities to find the best value
  • You can share items equally between friends or family

Why this matters

Supermarkets are full of real-world maths problems. When you shop, you use maths to:
  • Count money and work out if you have enough
  • Compare prices to save money
  • Work out how many items you can buy with your pocket money
  • Measure ingredients when cooking
  • Understand how many items are in a pack
This kind of maths helps you become a confident problem-solver in everyday life.

How it works

Making a supermarket maths quest is simple. Here's how:
  1. Choose a challenge – like "How much does it cost to buy 3 apples?" or "Which pack of crisps is the best deal?"
  2. Look at prices – find the price of items on the shelves
  3. Use maths – add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve your problem
  4. Check your answer – double-check your maths with a grown-up

Examples you can see

Let’s look at some real supermarket examples: Example 1: Adding prices You want to buy 2 bottles of juice. One costs £1.50 and the other costs £2.00.
  • £1.50 + £2.00 = £3.50
Example 2: Multiplication You want to buy 4 packs of pencils. Each pack costs £2.50.
  • 4 × £2.50 = £10.00
Example 3: Sharing You have 12 cookies and want to share them equally with 3 friends.
  • 12 ÷ 4 = 3 cookies each
Example 4: Comparing weights A 500g pack of cheese costs £3.00. A 250g pack costs £1.75.
  • 500g ÷ 250g = 2 (the bigger pack is 2 times the size)
  • £3.00 ÷ 2 = £1.50 per 250g (the bigger pack is cheaper)

Try it as a mini adventure

Adventure: The Supermarket Maths Challenge You are going on a shopping trip with your family. Your mission is to solve 5 maths problems using items in the supermarket. Step 1: Find 3 items that cost more than £1.00. Add their prices.
  • Item 1: £1.25
  • Item 2: £2.50
  • Item 3: £1.75
  • Total: £5.50
Step 2: You have £10.00. How much change will you get after buying 2 items that cost £3.00 and £2.25?
  • £3.00 + £2.25 = £5.25
  • £10.00 - £5.25 = £4.75
Step 3: You want to buy 6 bananas. Each banana costs 25p. How much will it cost?
  • 6 × 25p = 150p = £1.50
Step 4: You have 3 friends and 12 sweets. How many sweets can each friend get?
  • 12 ÷ 4 = 3 sweets each
Step 5: A 1kg bag of flour costs £2.00. How much does 500g cost?
  • 500g is half of 1kg
  • £2.00 ÷ 2 = £1.00

Common mistakes

  • Mistake: Adding the prices of items without checking if they are in pounds or pence.
    Why it happens: Not paying attention to the units.
    Fix: Always make sure all prices are in the same unit before adding.
  • Mistake: Forgetting to include the decimal point when adding money.
    Why it happens: Rushing through the problem.
    Fix: Write down the decimal point clearly and check your answer.
  • Mistake: Sharing items unequally.
    Why it happens: Not dividing the total by the number of people.
    Fix: Always divide the total by the number of people to share fairly.

Parent and carer guide

Parents and carers can help children with supermarket maths quests by:
  • Choosing age-appropriate challenges – for younger children, focus on counting and simple addition. For older children, include multiplication and division.
  • Letting children write or draw their answers to make it visual.
  • Encouraging children to explain their thinking – this helps them learn.
  • Checking answers together to build confidence.
  • Making it fun – turn the shopping trip into a game or a story.
It’s okay if the child doesn’t get the right answer first. The goal is to enjoy maths and learn through real-life examples.

Practice questions

  1. You buy 3 bottles of milk, each costing £1.20. How much do you spend?
  2. You have £5.00 and buy 2 apples that cost 40p each. How much change do you get?
  3. You want to share 15 cookies between 5 friends. How many cookies does each friend get?
  4. You buy 4 packets of crisps, each costing 50p. How much do you spend?
  5. You have 24 pencils and want to put them into 6 pencil cases. How many pencils go in each case?
Answers:
  1. 3 × £1.20 = £3.60
  2. 2 × 40p = 80p; £5.00 - £0.80 = £4.20
  3. 15 ÷ 5 = 3 cookies each
  4. 4 × 50p = 200p = £2.00
  5. 24 ÷ 6 = 4 pencils each

FAQ

How can I make a supermarket maths quest fun for my child?

Turn it into a game! Give your child a mission, like “Find the cheapest pack of cereal” or “Count how many items are in the fruit section.” Let them be the shopkeeper or the money checker.

What age is best for a supermarket maths quest?

Children aged 4-12 can do supermarket maths quests. Younger children can focus on counting and simple addition. Older children can work with multiplication, division, and comparing prices.

Can I use the quest to teach fractions?

Yes! For example, if a cake costs £4.00 and you want to share it equally between 4 people, each person gets 1/4 of the cake. You can also use half, quarter, or third of items like 1/2 a pack of cheese.

How can I make it more challenging for older children?

Ask them to calculate how much they can buy with a specific amount, compare unit prices, or work out how much they save with a “buy one get one free” offer.

Is it okay to use a calculator?

Yes! Calculators are great tools. You can let children use them to check their answers or to solve more complex problems. The main goal is to understand the maths, not to do everything by hand.