Add Headings and they will appear in your table of contents.
Math Games and Activities for Home
Try these fun ways to strengthen your child’s foundation in math!
● Count everything! Take a walk, count different quantities and find examples of addition and subtraction in your home.
Eggs (6 eggs + 6 eggs = 12 eggs)
Counting shoes in the closet
Counting stairs / skip counting as you walk up the stairs
Cups of flour in baking (1 cup + 1 cup = 2 cups)
● Have your child play Math Karate (free for Pre-K / Kindergarten / beginning of grade 1) as a game to promote good number sense. https://mathkarate.com/ or available via the App Store as “Visual Math Karate”
Tiny Polka Dot is a game you can find at many local retailers that can be used with the games below. You can also use the ten frames and numeral cards provided to play the games.
● Kindergarten and above: Memory Game
Version 1: Play the memory game with numerals and ten frames. Turn all cards face down and each player takes a turn flipping over two cards to try to find a match. If card numbers match, keep them and go again. If not, turn them face down and the next player goes. The game ends when all cards are matched and the player with the most cards wins.
Version 2: Play the memory game again, but this time match cards that add to 5 or 10.
● Kindergarten and above: Power Game
Version 1: Play the power game in which all cards (numerals/ten frames) are evenly dealt. Each player flips over a numeral or ten frame card from the top of their pile, and whoever has the higher number keeps both cards. If players tie for the highest card, put all cards from that round in the middle and players who tied play another round against each other. The game ends when there are no cards left and the player with the most cards wins.
Version 2: Play the power game again, but this time find a pair that has a sum of 5 or 10.
● End of Grade 1 and above: Power Pro Game
Deal all cards to each player. A player says a number. Everyone turns up that many cards. Whoever has the highest sum wins and keeps all the cards. If players tie for the highest sum, put all the cards into the middle and tying players play another round against each other. The game ends when you run out of cards and the player with the most cards wins.
● End of Grade 2 and above: Go Fish
Deal each player 4 cards. On your turn, ask the other players for a number. If they have it, they give it to you, and if they don’t, tell them to “go fish” and draw a card from the pile in the center. Place down a set of three cards that sum to 15. The game is over when the deck runs out and the most sets of 15 wins.
● End of Grade 2 and above: 25 Game
One player deals one card face down and one card face up to each player. The goal of the game is to get to 25. Each player says “another” and another card is dealt to them. When the player is done saying “another” (they can say it as many times as they would like to get as close to 25 as possible), they say “hold.” Then, once each player has gone through this process, the players all turn over their card that was face down to start and add all their cards, including this one, together. Whoever’s sum is the closest to 25 without going over wins.
● End of Grade 2 and above: 30 Game
Place the cards face down in the middle. Each player draws one from the top of the pile. Player one says the number. Player two says the sum of their card and the previous player’s card. Player three says the sum of the previous two cards and their card. This continues until the player who gets to 30 or above first, gets to keep all of the cards from that round. The game ends when as many cards are used up as possible and the player with the most cards wins.
● End of Grade 2 and above: Pyramid Puzzle
Version 1: Use exactly 10 ten frame cards to make a two-dimensional pyramid so that each number is the sum of the ones below it.
Version 2: Use exactly ten numeral cards to make a two-dimensional pyramid so that each number is the difference of the two below it.
● Create and use flashcards with math facts. Use flashcards ONLY when your child has conceptual understanding and strategies aside from memorization. Fluency is about applying a strategy successfully, not memorization/automaticity. Flashcards are the last thing to utilize. They need to be able to apply strategies and have mental images in their minds first.
○ Put one flashcard on each step so each time they go up the steps, they practice.
○ Put flashcards in a ziploc bag in the back seat of the car and practice when in the car.
○ Play concentration with a small group of cards.
Remember to emphasize CPA!
(Concrete) Build it with objects
(Pictorial) Then draw it with pictures
(Abstract) Then write it with numbers!
Report abuse