Adding Fractions Tic-Tac-Toe {free printable}

Tic-tac-toe is a favorite of my oldest son's. We have passed many minutes playing the age-old game on children's menus at restaurants while we waited for our food.

To add a little math practice in, I made four tic-tac-toe game boards with fraction addition problems. To start, these boards only have problems with like denominators that only add up to 1 or less.

Download the boards I made for free from Google Drive here. There's a blank page of boards too so you can write in your own problems!

Prep

I printed the boards on cardstock and then slipped them (front and back) inside a plastic sheet protector. I trimmed it down and grabbed two different colors of dry-erase markers. 

No sheet protectors? No problem. You can also laminate the cards or place a clear plastic report cover over the pages so the dry-erase marker wipes clean and you can reuse them again and again.

Play

This game of tic-tac-toe has no Xs or Os. Instead players select their space on the board, solve the fraction addition problem and mark the spot with the answer in their colored dry-erase ink.

Play alternates between players until either the board is filled or one player gets three problems completed in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally).

After School Linky (8-31)

Welcome to the party!

Bloggers shared some extraordinary ideas last week.

Here are some of my favorites.

What Did I See? Visual Memory Game at Mosswood Connections

10 Ways for Active Kids to Review Math Facts at Cutting Tiny Bites

Bottle Cap Word Sort at There's Just One Mommy

Circuit Bugs at Steam Powered Family

Secret Codes, Secret Messages at Grandma Ideas

Craft and Play: Toilet Paper Roll Car Craft at A Little Pinch of Perfect

Universe Cards (Free Printable) at Research Parent

The After School Linky is cohosted by

Mama Smiles

Planet Smarty Pants

Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

The Educators' Spin on It

This Reading Mama

We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school, home school, or on the weekend!

When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up, you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board and feature an image on our After School Party in the upcoming weeks!

Multiplying Domino Fractions

Fractions can be challenging for kids. I thought I'd see how my 10-year old son would do multiplying fractions.

I made some fun game cards, which I laminated, and got out our set of dominoes and two dry-erase markers. I put the doubles aside (i.e. six six, four four, etc.) and turned the rest of the dominoes upside down on the table.

Download a free one-page PDF with two game cards from Google Drive here.

He drew two dominoes from the pile and placed them on the game card. 

Then he multiplied the numerators and the denominators, writing the numbers on the card with a dry-erase marker. Stumped? Watch this great video from Khan Academy.

Lastly, my son reduced the fraction to its lowest terms, if he could.

Now it was my turn. I did the same thing with my game card. Lastly, I asked him to compare our final answers. Whose fraction was bigger?

If it's not readily apparent, we looked for a common denominator. Confused? Watch another Khan Academy instructional video; this one is great!

The player with the largest fraction takes the four dominoes. With a limited set of double six dominoes, we were able to play three rounds.

With the cards laminated, the dry-erase numbers you add can be wiped clean with a paper towel.

The player with the most dominoes in the end wins. My son really enjoyed this and asked to play it again; it's fun skills practice!

The Balloon that Inflates Itself (a Science Experiment)

That title is probably a little deceiving. The truth is, we blew up a balloon without it ever touching our lips - thanks to a gas-producing chemical reaction. 

With older brother away, this was the perfect experiment to pass some of the day. My six-year-old son was in awe!

What You Need
Empty plastic water/soda bottle
Balloon
3 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. vinegar
2 people

What to Do
Pour about 1/3 c. vinegar into your empty plastic bottle. Set aside.

Now one person holds open the neck of the balloon while another empties three teaspoons of baking soda inside it. (Yes, a mess is inevitable.)

Push the baking soda down so that it's resting on the bottom of the uninflated balloon.

Carefully stretch the neck of the balloon over the top of the bottle without spilling any baking soda inside.

Now hand the bottle over to your child and instruct them to shake and swirl the bottle until the baking soda is emptied from the balloon.

Watch what happens. The balloon inflates!

How it Works
When the baking soda and vinegar combine, a chemical reaction occurs. Carbon dioxide gas is created and, without anywhere to go, pushes up through the neck of the bottle, inflating the balloon.

After School Linky (8-24)

Welcome to the party!

Loads of great ideas are shared here every week. If you're a blogger, I hope you'll link up. If you're not, keep stopping by every Monday for a healthy dose of inspiration!

Here are a few of my favorites from last week's party.

Easy No-Sew Fleece Blanket Tutorial - Single Layer at Mama Smiles

Adjective Wheel Activity for 2nd Graders at School Time Snippets

Apple-Themed Skip Counting Activity at There's Just One Mommy

How to Make a Reknek at Boy Mama Teacher Mama

How to Make Ice Cream with Ice and Salt from Science Sparks

Play the Thrift Store Game at Grandma Ideas

5 Trampoline Games from The Chaos and the Clutter

The After School Linky is cohosted by

Mama Smiles

Planet Smarty Pants

Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

The Educators' Spin on It

This Reading Mama

We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school, home school, or on the weekend!

When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up, you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board and feature an image on our After School Party in the upcoming weeks!