Math Fact Game Ideas

Hi all!

I thought I'd drop in mid-week to give you a few game ideas to help your children practice their math facts at home in a fun way!  (After all, flash cards work for some, but they're not all that exciting after awhile.)  Good news! You can play both of these games with items you probably already have at home!

Penny Plate:

This is a great game to help students make connections between addition and subtraction without even knowing what they're working towards.
Materials: 10 pennies, 1 paper or plastic plate
How to Play:
Player 1 closes his/her eyes while Player 2 hides some of the pennies under the plate.  The rest of the pennies are places on top of the plate.  When Player 2 has placed all of the pennies either on top of or under the plate, Player 1 may open his/her eyes.  Player 1 then has to use their knowledge of the 10 facts to decide how many pennies are hidden under the plate.  Player 1 tells Player 2 how many pennies he/she thinks are under the plate.  Player 2 removes the plate to reveal the actual amount of pennies under the plate.  Both players then state the related addition fact.  (Example: If 6 pennies were on top of the plate and 4 pennies were under the plate, the related fact would be 6+4=10.)

Addition Top-It:

Materials:  1 deck of playing cards with face cards removed.  Make sure your child knows that the ace equals one.
How to Play:
Shuffle and place the deck face down between two players.  Player 1 draws two cards and adds them together, stating the complete number sentence as he/she does so.  (Example: If the cards are a 5 and a 7, student should state "5+7=12".  This helps with fact memorization.)  Player 2 draws two cards and repeats this process.  The player with the higher sum wins both players' cards for this turn.  In the even of a tie, both players should draw two additional cards and repeat the addition process.  The player with the higher sum takes all eight cards for that turn.  Play continues until the deck is exhausted.

Give them a try!