Math Games

I love playing math games with students. The kids have fun reviewing skills and will play the games as a choice when they are done other activities. I have slowly designed more and more games over the last few years using only a few materials. I will share a few of them here.

Materials

Most math games have very few materials. Here are a few great things to have on hand:

• 6-sided dice

• 10-sided dice

• dice mats (TIP: go the a dollar store and pick up small pieces of felt. The dice must stay on the mat)

• Whiteboard or scrap paper

• Other Possible Supports: calculators, 100s chart, multiplication chart, number line, place value anchor chart

When it comes to supports, I make them available to everyone. This means that I don’t single anyone out and say they can or cannot use them. Depending on the skills explored in each game, different students might want different supports.

Place Value: The Nasty Place Value Game

This is one of the most popular games teach kids. It is great for number sense and practicing large numbers. Students take turns rolling a 6-sided or a 10-sided die and place digits in the graphic organizer. They can place a digit in ANYONES boxes. So if I roll a ONE, I can put it in the ten-thousands spot for another student. What makes this extra nasty is that when ALL of the boxes are filled, everyone gets one final roll. They can cross out a digit from ANYONES number and change it. You can download the game HERE. The file includes graphic organizers for the game for various levels. I also laminated about six copes of the game and these have been used lots over the last two years.