Addition

Have you ever had two shiny red cars and then your friend gives you one more? Suddenly, you have a bigger, better collection! Or have you ever watched three happy birds singing on a branch, and then two more fly down to join them? The branch gets a little more crowded and a whole lot more cheerful. That happy feeling of getting more is me! I am the magic that happens when things come together. I love to gather and group, to build and grow. I am the reason you have a bigger pile of blocks when you play, more colorful crayons in your box, and more friends to share your secrets with at recess. I help turn a little into a lot, one piece at a time. Without me, your cookie jar would never get fuller, and your piggy bank would always feel light. I am your friend for making things bigger and better. My name is Addition!

For a very, very long time, people knew me, but they didn't have a name for me or a special sign to show me off. Long, long ago, in the time of cave dwellers and woolly mammoths, people would gather pebbles or scratch marks on bones to keep track of things. If a hunter saw five deer in a field and then two more came to munch on the grass, they would add two more scratches to their stick. That was me, helping them see their world grow right before their eyes! It was a simple way to use me, but it worked. Thousands of years passed, and people in places like ancient Egypt and Rome got really good at using me to build amazing pyramids and giant buildings. But I still didn't have my own special uniform, my own symbol.

Then, one day in the year 1489, a very clever man in Germany named Johannes Widmann was writing a book about numbers. He decided I was so important that I needed my very own sign. He gave me my own cool symbol: a little cross, which you now call the plus sign (+). I was so proud! I finally had my own uniform! But I still needed a friend to show what happens after I do my work. A little later, in the year 1557, a kind mathematician from a country called Wales named Robert Recorde gave my best friend a symbol, too. He invented the equals sign (=) with two little lines, one on top of the other. He said he chose two straight, parallel lines because nothing in the world could be more equal than that! Now, when you see 2 + 3 = 5, you're seeing my whole team at work. Me, the plus sign, bringing things together, and my friend, the equals sign, showing the amazing result.

Today, I am absolutely everywhere, and I bet you see me all the time! I am in the grocery store with you when you add shiny red apples and sweet yellow bananas to your cart. I am busy in the kitchen when you follow a recipe and add two cups of flour and one cup of sugar to make a yummy cake. I am definitely in your games when you add up your points to see who gets the high score and wins the grand prize. I help you count your birthday money to see if you have enough to buy that toy you have been wanting. I even help you figure out how many days are left until your summer vacation by adding up the days on the calendar.

But I am not just about numbers. I am about bringing good things together to make something even better. I combine your ideas with your friend's ideas to make a super-duper big idea for a new game. I bring individual players together to make a fantastic team that can win together. Whenever you share your toys, build a tall tower, or grow your collection of stickers, I am there, cheering you on. So next time you add something up, remember me. I am Addition, and I am here to help you make the world a little bit more wonderful, one plus at a time.