Division with Remainders for Kids: What Is Left Over? (Grade 4 Math)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are dividing with remainders. Sometimes things do not share out evenly, and a few are left over. The leftover part is called the remainder.

We have seventeen cookies to share equally among five friends. Let's give each friend one cookie at a time, going around and around, until we cannot give everyone another one.

Each friend gets three cookies. That uses fifteen cookies. But two cookies are left, and two is not enough to give all five friends one more. So two is the remainder.

We write it like this. Seventeen divided by five equals three, remainder two. The letter R stands for remainder. Check it: three times five is fifteen, plus two is seventeen. It works!

Here is an important rule. The remainder must always be smaller than the number you divide by. If you have five or more left over when sharing with five friends, everyone can still get another one, so keep sharing!

Let's use times tables. Twenty nine divided by four. Which four times fact gets close without going over? Four times seven is twenty eight. Twenty nine take away twenty eight is one. So the answer is seven, remainder one.

Now it's your turn. What is twenty three divided by three? Pause and try. Three times seven is twenty one, and three times eight is twenty four, which is too big. Twenty three take away twenty one is two. Seven, remainder two.

Great job! Remember, share equally, find the closest times fact without going over, and the leftover is the remainder. It is always smaller than the number you divide by. Practice remainders in the Math Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!