Top 10 Favorite Math Activities of 2012

My son loves math ... almost as much as chicken nuggets. Here's a recap of some of our favorite math activities from this past year.

No.1    Fridge Football

My son and I have played this so much, he has all the answers to the subtraction problems memorized! This simple game is a great drill for subtraction problems and counting by twos! Instructions and a free printable game board and playing cards are here.

No. 2    Math Post-It Note Scavenger Hunt

Practicing math facts has never been so fun. Send kids around the house (or school) answering one math problem at a time. Solve the problems right and a prize is yours! Cheap, easy, and gets their brains and bodies moving! Instructions here.

No. 3    Driveway Dice Roll Game

Turn your driveway into a giant board game where the kids are the game pieces. With a tissue box cube turned die, kids will roll, add, and subtract their way to the finish. Instructions here.

No. 4    Geometry Jump

Print geometric shaped game pieces out on colored cardstock. Get kids "swimming," dancing, and hopping from one shape to a parallelogram, trapezoid, even number, or the answer to 12 plus 13 (for example). This game is perfect for kinesthetic learners and practices a ton of different math skills in one game. Free printables and instructions here.

No. 5    Miniature Multiplication Ring Toss

What can you do with a small square of styrofoam, some popsicle sticks and a few plastic drink rings? Practice multiplication, of course! This fun ring toss turns learning multiplication facts into a game! Instructions and a free multiplication table printable here.

No. 6    Post-It Page Marker Math

Match the math problems to the answer and add hair to child's head, fur to a lion's mane, and quills to a hedgehog using Post-It page markers! Free printables here. 

No. 7    DIY Balancing Scale

Kids can learn about measuring, weight, and balance with a hanger, some yarn, and a few plastic cups. Don't underestimate the enjoyment that can come from such a simple activity! Instructions here.

No. 8    Fraction Match Card Game

This simple game is a modified version of "Go Fish." Kids will have a blast matching up colored shapes, pies, and numeral representations of fractions to see who can match up all their cards first! Free printable game, instructions, and book recommendation here.

No. 9    Round Around (Rounding Single Digits Board Game)

Round up or round down, move forward and back around the game board until the first player to the finish wins. Don't be overly confident! Players close to the finish are often sent backwards by rounding down. That's what makes this game great for adults to play with kids; you never know who'll win! Get this great printable and instructions here.

No. 10    Scrambled Schedule

Uh oh! A schedule of the day's activities is a scrambled mess! Kids put it in order, acting out each of the activities before finding the next one. This active time-telling game will get kids doing somersaults, jumping jacks, and dancing. Free printable and directions here.

Rounding (Single Digits) Board Game

Make practicing rounding numbers up and down fun - THAT was my goal.

While a simple sorting exercise or a worksheet would have been effective, neither idea excited me. And let’s face it; if it doesn’t sound fun to me, a 7-year-old isn’t likely to think so either.

Board games are a favorite with my son, so I whipped this one up.

Download a PDF of the game board, playing cards, and die here.

  

You need two players to play.

Objective

Use rounding to move your game piece. Try to get to the finish before your opponent.

Prep

Cut the cards apart. Shuffle and lie them face down in a pile between the two players.

Find two game pieces (e.g. two different buttons, coins, or glass decorator gems). We used some race car-shaped erasers.

Cut, fold, and glue the “go back/move forward” die.

How to Play

Game pieces are placed on the words “start.”

The first player rolls the “go back/move forward” die. If the die reads “go back,” the game piece cannot be moved and play moves on to the second player. He/she rolls.

If the second player rolls and the die reads “go forward,” they turn a card over on the deck and round it up or down. If the number is four or less and rounds down to zero, the player must stay at the start. Now it is the first player’s turn again.

If the number on the card is five or higher, the player will round up and move their game piece 10 spaces on the board.

Play alternates between both players.

If a player rolls “move forward,” they will always round the number on the card they draw. If it rounds down to zero, they do not move their game piece.

He/she can only move their game piece if the number on the card is a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, which all round up to 10.

If a player rolls “go back,” the number on the card drawn is the precise number of space they retreat. In some cases, this may put the player back at the first square on the game board.

The deck of cards may need to be reshuffled for continuous play.

How to Win

A player must round a number and advance beyond the final square on the board and pass the opponent’s game piece to win.

Although there are just over 20 spaces on the game board, it took us awhile to get through one game. And at one point, both my son and I were on the last space, rolling to see who would roll a “move forward” and draw a card with 5 or higher first; we were both sent back enough times to make predictions of who would win, anyone’s guess.

My son asked to play several more times, and even added LEGO minifigures to the board as “obstacles.” This was a GREAT way to practice rounding single-digit numbers.  Round Around is going in our regular rotation of home-made board games!

Note: If you child has trouble remembering which numbers round down and which round up, consider teaching him/her a rhyme. Several can be found here.