Friday Family Math Game

With the weekend upon us, I wanted to share a new math game that I found from another teacher online. The game is simple and helps students practice their math facts. It is called Spiral Math and can be played with up to four players. We are practicing our multiplication, but you could also adapt it for addition and subtraciton.

Materials:

• Deck of cards (face cards removed)
• Dice
• Coins or objects to mark players

Directions

• Shuffle the cards and set them out face up in a spiral formation.
• Roll the dice to see who goes first.
• Put both chips on the first card and the first player rolls the dice. 
• Then they multiply the number on the dice by the number on the card.
• If they are correct, they move the same number as the dice. If not, they stay there.
• Then the next player goes.
• The first person to get to the end wins.

Give it a try this weekend and let me know how it is!
 

Family Fun Game: Beat the Calculator Addition

Today in math I introduced a new game from the math curriculum we use, Everyday Math. The game is called Beat the Calculator. You can play with 2 or 3 people. Give it a try at home and let me know what you think!

• Materials
1. number cards 0-10, four of each number. (idea: use a deck of cards with the face cards pulled out of them)
2. calculator
• Directions:
1. Shuffle deck and place it in front of the players.
2. Assign roles. One person is the "Brain" and one person is the "Calculator." If you have 3 people, make someone the "Caller."
3. The "Caller" (or one player, if you only have two players) picks two cards and places them face up on the table.
4. The objective is to say the solution the fastest, using the following rules: The "Brain" has to use their brain to solve the problem with mental math, and the "Calculator" must use the calculator to complete the problem. 
5. The cards go to the person who solved the problem the fastest.
6. After 5 turns, switch roles and keep playing.

As a variation, you can use subtraction (but make sure you say the bigger digit first.) In class, we do not focus on the person who wins. It is more important to play the game fairly and have fun while learning.