Math Games to Make-Learning Math the Fun Way
Math can be difficult and even frightening at times for many students.
If you're a parent or teacher, phrases like "I hate math" or "I just don't get these fractions", are unfortunately, far too common! But then again, this is the real world of math teaching and math learning! A great way to help your child develop their math skills is by adding a little fun to the equation.
Using tangible ways to demonstrate skills such as fractions, as well as providing entertaining opportunities for practice and application, is half the battle! Making Your Own Math Games is Easy I'll share with you several fraction math games to make, that are a lot of fun and cost little or nothing out of your pocket! Keep in mind that you can create similar games for learning all kinds of math skills! All that's required are some helpful manipulatives to create or buy such as fractional circles, bars, squares or number lines.
Also, the Internet has many great sites where you can obtain fractional and other math templates to use for free.
One great thing about these games is that you and your students are probably already familiar with the original versions of the games.
This makes your job a lot easier because learning how to play the game is not a big deal, since most players have seen or played the original game.
This way, kids can get into the game quicker and start building fraction skills even faster! Concentration Games In order to make an easy Concentration type game, you create sets of fraction word cards and their corresponding picture cards.
Students lay out the sets of cards face down.
Then, they take turns choosing two cards to try to find matches.
If a match is found, they keep their matched cards and their turn continues.
If not, they turn the cards back over and the next player continues by searching for matches.
For instance a player would have a match if they turned over the fractional words two-thirds and a picture that showed two-thirds shaded on a card.
The winner is the person who has the greatest number of cards.
Bingo Games Another really easy fraction math game to make is Fraction Bingo, which is played like the original version but with fraction cards instead of numbers.
As the "Caller" calls out fractional words, each player tries to cover that fraction if pictured on their card.
Players can use beads, coins, buttons, Unifix cubes, or other small objects to cover the spaces on their cards.
The winner is the first person to cover all spaces on a card and s/he becomes the next Caller.
War Games Lastly, to play Fractions War, you will need a set of flash cards with fractional amounts written on them, such as 1/3, 2/3, 1/8, 5/8, or 7/8.
The cards are dealt equally between players who face each other.
Students "play" their card by putting down the top card from their hand and their opponent does the same.
Then, they compare fractions to see which card is greater in value.
The holder of the larger fractional amount collects the cards played.
The play continues in this fashion until two equivalent fractions are turned over and they must have "War!" Players each turn over their next four cards as they proclaim "I-DE-CLARE-WAR!" Then, those final cards are compared and the holder of the card showing the larger fraction wins that round.
The player to acquire all the cards or the greatest amount by a designated time limit is the winner.
A variation of this would be to create fraction cards showing operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and provide individual marker boards for students to complete operations and then determine which fraction is larger.
Great Math Learning Tool for Parents and Teachers Learning fractions in math doesn't have to be frightening and complicated for students any longer.
Concentration, Bingo, and War are just three of the many fun math games to make that help educators, tutors, and parents teach math in a more creative and engaging way! Consider how much fun they can have while working in small groups to practice their skills.
Best of all, using games is not intimidating to students like the prospect of turning in another worksheet to the scrutiny of the marking pencil!
If you're a parent or teacher, phrases like "I hate math" or "I just don't get these fractions", are unfortunately, far too common! But then again, this is the real world of math teaching and math learning! A great way to help your child develop their math skills is by adding a little fun to the equation.
Using tangible ways to demonstrate skills such as fractions, as well as providing entertaining opportunities for practice and application, is half the battle! Making Your Own Math Games is Easy I'll share with you several fraction math games to make, that are a lot of fun and cost little or nothing out of your pocket! Keep in mind that you can create similar games for learning all kinds of math skills! All that's required are some helpful manipulatives to create or buy such as fractional circles, bars, squares or number lines.
Also, the Internet has many great sites where you can obtain fractional and other math templates to use for free.
One great thing about these games is that you and your students are probably already familiar with the original versions of the games.
This makes your job a lot easier because learning how to play the game is not a big deal, since most players have seen or played the original game.
This way, kids can get into the game quicker and start building fraction skills even faster! Concentration Games In order to make an easy Concentration type game, you create sets of fraction word cards and their corresponding picture cards.
Students lay out the sets of cards face down.
Then, they take turns choosing two cards to try to find matches.
If a match is found, they keep their matched cards and their turn continues.
If not, they turn the cards back over and the next player continues by searching for matches.
For instance a player would have a match if they turned over the fractional words two-thirds and a picture that showed two-thirds shaded on a card.
The winner is the person who has the greatest number of cards.
Bingo Games Another really easy fraction math game to make is Fraction Bingo, which is played like the original version but with fraction cards instead of numbers.
As the "Caller" calls out fractional words, each player tries to cover that fraction if pictured on their card.
Players can use beads, coins, buttons, Unifix cubes, or other small objects to cover the spaces on their cards.
The winner is the first person to cover all spaces on a card and s/he becomes the next Caller.
War Games Lastly, to play Fractions War, you will need a set of flash cards with fractional amounts written on them, such as 1/3, 2/3, 1/8, 5/8, or 7/8.
The cards are dealt equally between players who face each other.
Students "play" their card by putting down the top card from their hand and their opponent does the same.
Then, they compare fractions to see which card is greater in value.
The holder of the larger fractional amount collects the cards played.
The play continues in this fashion until two equivalent fractions are turned over and they must have "War!" Players each turn over their next four cards as they proclaim "I-DE-CLARE-WAR!" Then, those final cards are compared and the holder of the card showing the larger fraction wins that round.
The player to acquire all the cards or the greatest amount by a designated time limit is the winner.
A variation of this would be to create fraction cards showing operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and provide individual marker boards for students to complete operations and then determine which fraction is larger.
Great Math Learning Tool for Parents and Teachers Learning fractions in math doesn't have to be frightening and complicated for students any longer.
Concentration, Bingo, and War are just three of the many fun math games to make that help educators, tutors, and parents teach math in a more creative and engaging way! Consider how much fun they can have while working in small groups to practice their skills.
Best of all, using games is not intimidating to students like the prospect of turning in another worksheet to the scrutiny of the marking pencil!
