Split a total the way a ratio says: 40 sweets shared 3 to 5 is not 20 and 20 but 15 and 25. These free printable worksheets give a total and a ratio and ask for one of the shares.
If they get stuck
The answer key prints on a separate page.
The move a child skips is the first one: a ratio of 3 : 5 makes 3 + 5 = 8 equal parts, not two. Find how much one part is worth — the total divided by 8 — and each share is however many parts it has. Halving the total is the wrong answer these sheets are built to catch, so the two shares are never equal.
Asking for the larger or the smaller share on its own keeps the answer a single number, which is what lets the sheet be worked online as well as on paper. The full split is both shares together, and a child who can give the one asked for can give both.
One question from a sheet like this one, worked a step at a time — with a sentence saying what just happened and why.
Sharing in a ratio, step by step