Games to play at home

Games are a wonderful way to have fun doing math together. You get to connect with your child while they get to share their reasoning, experiment with new ideas in a friendly environment AND practice their facts! Below is a list of games from our curriculum that we encourage you to try at home too!

We've made some suggestions of card games and others you may already have or can order online. If you need a deck of cards, please reach out to us because we have plenty we can share with families! Each game is rich in mathematics.

Repeatedly playing games increases student learning and deepens understanding of important math ideas.

Games that focus on math facts

Hunt-for-It-At-Home.pdf

Counting game

Materials to collect: found objects and a bunch of cups

Tub-Game-at-home-REV-4-7-20.pdf

Addition & Subtraction game

Materials to collect: counters and a tub

Grab-Bag-Subtraction-at-home-REV-4-7-20.pdf

Subtraction game

Materials to collect:

paper bag and found objects

How-many-in-the-cups-at-home.pdf

Multiplication game

Materials to collect:

cups and found objects

Practice Multiplication Facts

Materials to collect:

A device is needed to play this online game:

Click the link or image to go to the game.

Try these games from our curriculum!

Compare Game

"Compare" is played much the same way "War" is played. The important idea is to compare two quantities and to decide which is larger and by how much.

Double Compare

This game offers multiple opportunities to use "algebraic" reasoning. Students work on addition and make comparisons between two totals.

Close to 100

The goal of this game is to decide between 6 cards which two 2-digit numbers to make that, when combined, get you closest to 100. This game offers opportunities to develop place value skills and working flexibly within 100.

Guess My Rule

Kids love this game! One player comes up with a "rule" and the others try to figure it out using questions and deductive reasoning. This example uses shapes but the "rule" could be about anything!

Capture Fractions

This game is very much like "Compare" except the players are comparing two fractions to decide which one is larger. The fraction cards have visual representations which facilitate players reasoning about how much bigger a fraction is compared to another providing lots of challenge!

Product Game

Children get to review and enhance their understanding of factors, multiples, and products. They review multiplication and division of whole numbers. They analyze winning strategies depending on numbers with an abundance of factors.

Games for the Holidays

Multiply, divide, add and subtract

This game has it all! Click on the image above to read more about how to play the game!

So many ways to use these cards

The games with these cards focus on counting, adding and subtracting. Click the image above and read more about how to play each game!

SET

Set is a game supports children's logical reasoning, visualization, and ability to focus. Children look at an array of cards with different images, trying to figure out which features go together to make "sets". All ages can enjoy this fun, math game!

Click the link to try playing SET online

Tangos

This game focuses on spacial relationships and can engage the whole family. Players put geometric shapes together o make an image like the rabbit seen above. Click this link to try playing TANGOS online.

Mastermind

Kids love this game! It's about figuring out the other person's code. It takes logical reasoning and strategy.

Mancala

Who doesn't like a good card game?!

Check out the ones below.

Make 10

This game is similar to "Go Fish". Players are dealt 5 cards each and then try to make pairs that total 10. For example if a player has a 4, they'd ask the other player for a 6. If the player doesn't have a 6, they say, "go fish" and pull a card from the deck.

Kings in the Corners

The object of the game is to be the first one to get rid of all the cards in your hand. This is a great family game for all ages. For full details of the game click this link.

BlackJack

The dealer deals out two cards face up to each player. The object is to combine the cards and get as close to 21 as possible. Players say "hit" or "stay" depending on if they want another card. For more details about the game click this link.

Close Call

Deal out 6 cards to each player. Players choose 4 cards to create two double-digit numbers. The goal is to combine the two numbers to get a total of as close to 100 as possible.

Videos of Math Card Games

Here is a treasure trove of math card game videos from Michael Minas, an educational consultant.

The games are geared to play at home with a caregiver.

Click the name or the image to go to the videos.