There are so many different ways that we learn but I love learning through play and I think it’s so important for our students of any age. Walk into any kindergarten class and you will see the importance of play in action but as you go up in the grades it seems to die off quickly. Now I realize there is a lot of curriculum to cover and we can’t teach everything through games but I really believe that games are a great source of student’s independent practice – especially in math!
When I was a kid my family used to play games from this book: Family Math. And even though it’s old, it is still one of my favourites! If you have this book or can get a hold of it check out the Calculator Paths game boards and the Hot Air Balloon game.
Here are some of my other favourite math games:
Multiplication War
Similar to the card game war but you have to multiply the numbers together to win the cards. You can change up the rules depending on the age of the students and assign different values to the face cards.
Divisibility Memory
This is set up like a regular game of memory with the cards flipped over. When you flip two cards you multiply them together and if they are divisible by two (or any other number you choose for the round) then itA’s a match.
Pig
I’ve probably talked about this one on here before but it is just so good for practicing mental math and having fun. You need two dice and all you do is roll and keep track of your total in your head. You can roll as many times as you want on your turn but if you roll a 1 you lose your turn and get a zero for the round. Double 1’s (or snake eyes) knock your entire game score down to zero. Whenever you choose to end your round you write down your score and add it to previous rounds. The first person to 100 wins.
Teachers Pay Teachers Games
Frosty Relay (or there is a Rockstar version for other seasons) – This is a great review game for the full class and lots of fun – Plus you get some pretty ridiculous artwork at the end to hang up – ha!
All Things Algebra – This whole store is full of awesome games and activities for math!
Holiday Logic Puzzles – I love all sorts of logic puzzles but these Holiday ones are perfect for sneaking math fun into the crazy December rush.
Tale of Two Teachers 