Self-Checking Addition Hunt

Just this week our 5-year-old told me that he liked numbers better than letters. With so much energy spent on phonics, identifying and blending sounds, I thought it best to switch gears and practice early math skills.

To practice some basic addition (or any kind of math facts), I grabbed two post-it note pads in different colors and a black marker.

On one color, I wrote simple addition problems. On another color post-it, I wrote the answers. On the back of each set of cards, I drew simple shapes like a heart, sun, triangle, etc.

I tacked up both colors of post-its around our living room, kitchen, and entryway areas and when my son got home from school, he grabbed one of the orange cards (addition problems), solved it, and searched for the answer. 

When he thought he'd found it, he turned both post-its over and if the shape on the back of both cards matched, he knew he'd answered correctly!

This was SUCH a simple game that took less than 10 minutes of prep. Because kids are up and moving, it makes practicing math skills WAY more fun than solving problems on a worksheet. Want to make it even more challenging? Time kids! See if they can beat their best time next time!

Give it a try!