An average is a fair share: gather everything up, then spread it out evenly. These free printable word problems ask for the mean of a small set of scores, prices, or distances, and keep the totals friendly so the idea stays in view.
If they get stuck
The answer key prints on a separate page.
The mean is the first statistic a child meets, and it is easiest to understand as an action rather than a formula: add everything to make one pile, then share that pile equally among however many there were. Four test scores become one total and then one fair score, and a child who pictures the sharing rarely forgets to divide by the count.
The stories are built so the total divides evenly, because the point here is the meaning of an average, not a division with a remainder. Once the idea is secure, the same move works backwards — a known average and count give the total — which is where these problems lead.
One question from a sheet like this one, worked a step at a time — with a sentence saying what just happened and why.
Averages word problems, step by step