The Most Helpful Math Games I’ve Found
This year I’ve been searching for more ways to make math fun but also productive. These games get a high-five from this homeschool mom.
The Matching to 10 Game is great for practicing equations that add up to 10.
You can use any standard deck of cards, but you’ll need to remove most of the face cards. Turn the Ace card into a #1, and make one of your face cards a 0. I used an old deck of cards, and I used blank labels to stick a 1 and 0 to the Ace & face card.
Spread the cards out on the table face down, and then take turns turning over two cards at a time. If your cards add up to 10, you get to keep the pair. If they don’t add up to 10, turn them back over. Keep playing until all the cards are used up. The winner is the person with the most pairs.
Addition Game
Use the same deck of cards you prepared for the matching game. Shuffle them well and place the stack face down on the table. Each person takes two cards and then adds them together. If they get the answer right, they get to keep the cards. If not, the cards are put in a discard pile. Players who are already good at math might want to take 3 cards to add together. Whoever has the most cards at the end of the stack, wins, or you can just reshuffle the discard pile and play again. (To make it a little harder, take out the #1s and #0s.)
Number Line Game
For kids who like to move, you can go outside when the weather is nice and draw a big number line from 0-10 on the driveway, and the child can step on the number line as equations are called out. You can also do this on a piece of paper with some tokens. You’ll need a pair of dice or either a parent can call out equations.
Roll the dice, and the child will add the pair of numbers together. They can use the number line to help them, but during their second turn, if they are already mid-way through the number line, it will get trickier. The object of the game is to land right on the 10. If your equation takes you to a number larger than 10, you need to go back and start at 0. Keep playing until one of the players land on the 10. That’s the winner of the game.
Sum Swamp
If it’s in your homeschool budget, I can’t recommend the board game Sum Swamp enough. Though made for younger kids, it’s still fun for my nine-year-old to play, and I like it too! The game gives children practice with addition, subtraction and figuring out odd and even numbers.
Please share your favorite math games in the comments section below.
