Thursday, December 1, 2011

DIY Math Fact Game for All Ages

Ok, this is a 'proud mommy' post! My 5th Grader made up a game for all age levels to practice their math facts. I'm not sure I could be this creative. First, she made a game board out of black poster board and cut-up pieces of colored construction paper. - multi-color Post-Its would make for an even easier assembly. She glued the construction paper 'squares' onto the board in a swirly path to make a game board. On a few color squares, she wrote various single digit numbers (I'll explain why in the directions below). They use 2 dice, game pieces (any little trinket will work), and my little Tonka brings along his number line.


The Rules: Start youngest player to oldest.  (Cause, let's face it, if you don't let the littlest ones go first, you've either already lost them or incited a riot)

The first player rolls the dice. Depending on their math level, they either add or multiply the two numbers and call out their answer. They only get to move if the first answer they say is correct - no guessing. For adders, if the answer is 5 or less, move 1 space. If the answer is 6 or more, move two spaces. For multipliers, if the answer is a single digit, move 1 space and if the answer is 2 digits, move two spaces.

If they land on a space with one of those numbers written on it as I described above, roll one die to try to match the number. If they do, move ahead that number of spaces. For instance, if they land on a square with a 3 written on it, and they roll a 3, you move ahead three spaces. If they roll a 4, remain in that spot.

You could vary this to include division by rolling 2 of the same kind dice to form a 2 digit dividend and then roll again with 1 die, to find a single digit divisor.

The first person to get to the end of the game board wins!

2 comments :

  1. OOh! Such fun. Last week at a used curriculum sale I found a game for Brooke called Sum Swap and she is loving it. It's to bad that I can't use it for a multiplier (they would finish the game way to fast)...we may need to commission your sweet girl to make one for us!

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  2. Your daughter is a genius; you must be a proud mommy. She invented a great way to comprehend Maths. Can you ask her if she can Take My Math Class For Me and make me understand it later on? I was just kidding because I’ve never been a Math genius so kids like yours inspire me.

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