5 Fun Math Games to Include in Your Homeschool

Post author:Sharon
Post published:September 27, 2018
Post category:Projects and Activities
Post comments:1 Comment

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My kids love to play games. What kid doesn’t?! When I can find games to add to our school day, that’s even better. I especially LOVE using games for math review! Math games are a great way to practice or reinforce skills in a fun way.

Over the years, I have found several games to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. I even discovered games to practice fractions and drawing angles. I want to make learning fun and hands-on whenever possible.

I have included some of our favorite games. Check them out.

Math Games to Make Review Fun

Math Game #1- War With a Twist

It is amazing what you can do with a deck of cards. It doesn’t matter if you want to practice addition or multiplication facts or even fractions. You can do it with a regular deck of cards.

War (with a twist): My son loves playing this game for fact review. I believe I originally saw a version of this in one of the Primary Mathematics textbooks.

How to Play:

Both players draw two cards and flip them over. Each player adds, subtracts, or multiplies their two numbers. Whoever has the highest total wins all the cards. You continue until someone has all the cards.

It is a fun way for my son to practice his facts because he loves competition. So this is right up his alley.

Variation:

My kids have also played this independently. They flip the cards over and figure out the answer. I am usually nearby to check if they are correct or they have a multiplication chart or facts sheet close by to check for themselves.

You can also use War for fraction practice. However, when two cards are drawn this time one card is the numerator and the other the denominator. The largest fraction wins.

Sometimes we use the face cards in our deck and sometimes only up to a certain number. I adjust to the situation. I have also seen some sites that use Uno cards for number games. I suppose Skipbo cards would work really well because the numbers are from 1 to 12. There are many variations you can try.

Math Game #2- Kaboom

Kaboom is a great game to practice many different math concepts. You can practice your math facts, telling time, reducing fractions…the list goes on. I found this idea at The Starr Spangled Planner. You can find it here.

Materials:

Craft sticks- Larger ones work best, but I used the smaller ones because that is what I had at the time.
Permanent Marker
Container- Crystal Light-type containers work well. Cover the outside with paper if it is a clear container so kids cannot see the sticks inside.

How to make the game for multiplication fact practice:

Decide which set of facts you want to cover. Do smaller chunks like 2 through 4 or 5 through 7.
Write one fact on a craft stick. For example, write 2×5.
Take another stick and write another multiplication problem on it. Continue until you have all the facts you want to be practiced written on a craft stick.
Now take 5 craft sticks and write KABOOM on each one.
Place all the sticks in your container. You are ready to go.

How to play:

The student draws a stick out of the container without looking.
They answer the fact. Make sure to have some kind of chart or answer key nearby so the kids can check their answers.
The student keeps drawing sticks until they reach a KABOOM. The challenge is to see how many facts they can answer before they get KABOOM.

My kids love practicing their facts this way. They hold their breath each time they draw out a stick in anticipation of a KABOOM stick. They love playing it repeatedly to see how far they can get. I will try adapting this with other math concepts. It is so very easy to do.

Math Game #3- Division 1 Racing

One of the best games for division practice I found was at the site Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational. It appealed to both my kids. It takes a little prep work, but it is worth it. Click on this link to download all the materials and learn how to play.

How to Play:

The kids placed ten toy cars on the starting line across the bottom of the board. They draw a card and figure out the answer to the division fact. If the answer is eight, they move the car in lane eight up one space. The kids keep drawing cards and moving cars until one reaches the finish line. It is a simple and fun way to practice division facts.

Variation:

With younger kids, you could make up addition and subtraction fact cards with answers 10 or less. Your younger ones can then join in the fun.

Math Game #4- Race Around the World: An Angles Game

I was searching high and low for some games older elementary kiddos could play. I found this fun one for kids to practice angles on
Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational. The link for this game and printable materials can be found here.

Materials:

World printout (You can laminate it or stick it in a page protector)
Game cards
Protractor
Whiteboard marker

How to play:

Draw one of the game cards.
Using the protractor, mark the given angle on the world beginning at the start line.
Next, draw another card.
Starting on the line of the last angle, mark the next one.
Repeat this until you have made it around the world and have landed back at the start.

My daughter tried to see how few cards it could take to make it around the world as a little competition with herself. It was good practice using a protractor and marking angles.

Math Game #5- Online Games

The internet has loads of online games to make math fun. One of my kids’ favorite sites is ABCya! They have a wide variety of games that cover a number of skills. On the fourth-grade level alone, there are 60 math games! You are bound to find something that can reinforce the math skills your child is working on.

Math may not always be fun for kids but there are so many games and activities that can be included to make it a lot more fun. I found these games to be a lot of fun for my kids and a good way to practice their math skills. You can’t beat that.

Bonus Math Game

Here is another math game your kids might enjoy. It is a fun game to help them practice all their multiplication facts. It is called Dive into Multiplication!