Fractions seem to be tough for kids to conquer. To help our 9-year-old son compare fractions with different denominators to see which was bigger, I wanted to teach him a quick and easy shortcut.
Of course, learning is always more fun when you have the chance to go toe-to-toe with your mom and try to beat her. To facilitate that opportunity, I made the Butterfly Garden Fractions Game.
This game uses the cross multiplying method (or butterfly trick) to determine which fraction is greater than the other. If you're not familiar with this method, watch this YouTube video.
What You'll Need to Play Butterfly Garden
2-page PDF (game board and score card)
Paper
Lamination or a plastic sheet protector
fine-tip dry-erase marker
die
Writing tool or butterfly stamp for keeping score
Click on the picture above to download a 2-page PDF free from Google Drive. Once you've printed both the game board and score card, place the game board inside a plastic sheet protector or laminate it. Now you're ready to play.
How to Play
The first player will roll the die twice. The larger number that is rolled will be the DENOMINATOR. The smaller number will be the NUMERATOR.
Record the fraction on the butterfly game card on the correct side of the butterfly's wing.
Once the opponent has done the same, compare the fractions using the butterfly method.
Whoever has the bigger fraction wins the round and can indicate that on the scorecard; we used a rubber stamp of a butterfly.
The player with the most markings or “butterflies” on the scorecard after eight rounds of play wins!
And in case you're wondering, I got creamed. My boy won 6 rounds!!!
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