Fun Math Games for Kids

Everyone loves playing an engaging game. It brings people together. Do you play cards or dominoes? A lot of parents play these with their kids. I bet a lot of parents don’t know that they are also supporting their child’s math learning through these fun math games.

This week, we are chatting about fun math games for your students. I’m providing a few examples for whole-class, partner, and digital learning. You might have tried some version of these, some might be new to you, or maybe you haven’t used one of them in a long time. Either way, put some of these into play this month for some fun learning with your students!

Moving with Math

Remember those days when you were young and played hopscotch? Did you have the balance to do the whole hop-on-one-foot thing? Me? Not so much. But children love this game, and you can use it to teach math in different ways. Use the squares to input numbers for skip counting. 

So, grab some chalk and get drawing! Too cold? Use tape to make a Hopscotch board on your classroom floor. This will help get the wiggles out of your cooped-up students.

Another nostalgic game to make your own is a “Twister” math game. You can use cut-out circles taped to an area on your classroom floor. Write numbers in the circles to use as answers to math problems. Instead of calling out a color, call out a math problem, such as 5-4=? The students will then place their hand or foot on the appropriate number answer. 

Whole-Group Math Fun Games

Whiteboards can be used for many types of whole-group learning. It also helps students who need a little scaffolding. Students also benefit by hearing how others think. Here a few to try:

Have a large shape on one side of the board. On the other side, have multiple, smaller shapes. Students should have their own large shape in front of them with the smaller shapes as cut outs. Have students figure out what smaller shapes fit into the large shape. You can also have the students work in pairs. Interactive boards allow you to model this activity for your students. 

Another fun math game is for the teacher to write a number on the board. Then, write many numbers around or on one side of that number. Have students take turns “making” that number through addition or subtraction of the other side numbers.

While some may say that these activities aren’t necessarily games, kids have fun with them as a group and well…isn’t that the point of a game? 😊

Fun Math with Partners

This teaching strategy is beneficial for many students. It can help students who are not comfortable speaking in front of the class. Their partner can encourage them to speak for their group during the think-pair-share game. This will help build their confidence. Here are a few partner games to set up:

A dice game for teaching addition skills is fun for students to do together. Each student rolls two or three dice. They add up the dots and make note of that number on their score sheet. Have the students also write out the addition sentence. After each student has a turn, the student with the highest number for that round gets a point. At the end of the game, the student with the highest points, wins. 

Playing cards have so many uses in a classroom. Fun math games for partners can help teach addition skills. For example, each student has half of a deck of cards. They each put down a card and add the two numbers together. Whoever calls the correct answer out first, wins those cards. The student who holds the most cards at the end wins. 

As most math teachers know, math mats can be used for multiple purposes. Here is a fun math game to make. Have a math mat with number blocks individualized for the game. You can make simple ones; doesn’t have to be fancy. Next, bring out those dice again. Have the students take turns rolling the dice. You can instruct the students to either add or subtract the numbers. They can use both number facts. Then, the students color in the number block of the answer(s). The student who fills in all of their blocks first wins!

Think-Pair-Share with Word Problems

Think-pair-share games are a fun way for students to work in pairs. Students get an assignment or problem, work with a partner to solve it, and then share with the rest of the class. This is a great way to add something different to your learning activities.

This works great with word problems. Write a word problem on the board for the whole class. For younger or second-language learners, you can also have the word problem already written for them at their desk.

Students then work together in pairs to talk out the problem. This is where it is beneficial to pair students of different abilities together. You will definitely see scaffolding at work!

After a certain time, have groups share their answers. This is a good time to let conversations among groups happen. As I mentioned before, activities like this help build communication skills for those students who are a little reluctant to talk in class.

Interactive Math Games

Online and digital math games have quite a few benefits to them. First, it makes virtual learning easier and more interactive. It also makes learning cheaper than buying tons of manipulatives for the classroom. Teachers can also use interactive math for whole-group learning. Online templates allow teachers to customize learning for their students. It’s an easy way to model activities for students. Other activities for interactive whiteboards can include base-ten blocks, counters, and number lines. There are even 100s charts to use with your students. 

With Partners

Any digital math resource can be used as a game for your students. For example, this shape game can be used as a pair activity or an individual digital resource. You can use the whole-group shape game, mentioned above, as a model for this activity.

The digital math games above, are other examples of fun digital math resources that can be used in different settings. Partner students up to work together to tell time and learn odd/even skills!

Savvy Apple Update

Today and tomorrow (February 9 & 10, 2021), Savvy Apple is hosting a 25% off sale for all digital resource products in the store! Click here to see all the new ones that have been added. There’s still time to grab some Valentine math resources at a great price.  Be sure to use the code SAVVY25 at checkout!

Included in the sale are the latest two digital resources in the shop. One is an extensive addition & subtraction package for young learners. The other is a kindergarten geometry pack. Don’t forget that digital resource, especially the holiday-themed ones, make a great Valentine gift for your favorite teacher or teacher friend!

Talk to you next week!

Jess @ Savvy Apple