Two piles of grapes
You have 2 grapes on your plate and a friend slides over 1 more. Instead of counting from the start, you just push the piles together and see 3. That pushing-together is exactly what the + sign asks you to do.
Adding means putting together
When we add, we put two groups together and count how many there are altogether. The + sign means 'and' or 'plus'.
🍎🍎 and 🍎 → 2 + 1 = 3
Simulation · Number-line explorer
3 + (-5) = -2
Slide the two numbers and watch where they land. Adding moves you right; adding a negative moves you left.