Yay, summer! As you and your kids prepare to enjoy a well-deserved break from the pressures of school, we'd like to remind you that summertime also presents many opportunities for kids to keep their math skills fresh and play around with concepts they may encounter next school year. In particular, integrating some time for math games into play dates or family nights encourages kids to flex their math muscles as they spend quality time with their favorite people! Here's a list of our favorite math games, featuring a few classics as well as some fresh alternatives:
A fun, family-friendly board game in which players move around the board buying and trading properties, building up properties by buying houses and hotels, and charging the other game players rent. Play the game with "dollar" bills only-the debit card version is not as educational.
Math War is a fun variation on the classic card game that challenges players to perform a calculation (in this case, multiplication). The player with the highest product wins the hand! Click here for an extensive list of math games that can be played with a deck of Mathnasium cards.
Set is a fun, portable (deck of cards) game that tests visual perception and pattern recognition by challenging players to choose three cards that all follow the same pattern or a different one.
Battleship is an engaging game for older kids that tests memory and spatial reasoning skills. Based on a numbered and lettered grid, guess where your opponent's game pieces are positioned. First one to "sink" all of their opponent's battleships wins.
This is one of our students' favorite math warm up games! It is one of the games where we have seen the most significant improvement in student numerical fluency and is always recommended as a way to keep facts fresh and help prevent the slide back to using fingers to add or subtract (we change the rules so that when the reverse direction card is played, we subtract the numbers rather than adding them).
Albert’s Insomnia makes learning math fun. Albert can’t sleep and he needs help counting his sheep. This game is a mental math game that requires players to think and solve equations. Albert’s Insomnia helps with mental math, math facts, learning order of operations, critical and creative thinking skills practice and so much more. Can be played in small groups or collaboratively in a large group or classroom.
A math game with a forward/backward twist! Players add cards and watch out for wilds cards that can send their scores zooming forward, backward or nowhere at all. Builds multiplication skills. Reinforces addition skills. Applies probability strategies. Aligns with learning standards.
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Players add, or subtract, 1, 2, or 3 to the number on the top card on the pile to determine if they have a card that can be played next. Sounds simple, but with everyone playing simultaneously, the options are constantly changing. The first player out of cards wins.
Reinhards Staupe’s Blink Card Game-The World's Fastest Game.: It's faster than you think. Blink is the lightning-fast game where two players race to be the first to play all of their cards. Using sharp eyes and fast hands, players quickly try to match the shape, count, or color on the cards. The first player out of cards wins. Fast and portable, Blink is instant fun for everyone.
We play these and many other games during our Friday Game Hour each Friday during our summer sessions.
In search of more math-tastic summer activities? Our summer program starts soon and everyone at Mathnasium is ready to help children have a blast fortifying their math foundations and preparing for what lies ahead next fall! Don't miss out on the fun and learning! Call us 303-840-1184!
