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Games for
Parents to Play with their Children
Here are some games that you can play with your child. These games
are the same or similar to the games your child will play in his
or her math class as well as those that your child may bring home
throughout the school year. Games are great tools to help students
have fun while learning. The games provided are for kindergarten
through fourth grade and can be adapted to fit your child. Have
fun playing them.
SNAP IT (Kindergarten
and first grade)
You will need: Two
or more players and cubes (eg.7) that snap together.
How to play: Players
snap cubes together. On a signal, players break trains into two
parts and tell how many cubes are in each hand.
Variation: Break the trains behind their
back, show one part, and then predict how many cubes are still behind
their back.
Note: It
is best if each player has 7 objects that snap together. If you
do not have access to cubes, you can use 7 pennies (or similar small
objects). Now instead of breaking their train, they are dividing
their train into two parts.
ON AND OFF (Kindergarten
and first grade)
You will need: Two
players, 8 - 20 counters and half a piece of 8 ½ x 11 paper
(mat)
How to play: Players
toss set of counters over the paper and record the number of counters
that land "on" and "off" the mat, repeating
this ten times.
GRAB BAG (Kindergarten
and first grade)
You will need: Two
or more players and counters (e.g. 8) in a bag
How to play: One
player puts 8 counters in a bag, reaches in and takes some counters
out. Player opens hand to show the counters taken out, and then
says: "I had 8 in the bag and took out 5. How many do you think
are still in the bag?" Player holding the bag can then confirm
if the other player's guess is correct. Players then switch roles,
trying different combinations as well as eventually using a different
number of cubes in the bag.
CIRCLES AND STARS (Third
grade)
You need: Two
players and one die
How to play: Player
A rolls the die, then draws that number of fairly large circles.
Player B rolls the die and does the same.
Player A rolls the die and draws that number of stars in each of
his circles.
Player B rolls the die and does the same.
Each player writes the number sentence that tells
how many stars he or she has (e.g. four circles with 3 stars in
each circle would be 4 x 3 = 12 stars). Play six rounds, then determine
the total number of stars that each player has.
Variation: For each round,
after Player A draws stars in his circle, determine the probability
that Player B will end up with more stars than Player A.
Adapted from Math by all Means: Multiplication
by Marilyn Burns
HOW
MANY ROWS? HOW MANY IN EACH ROW? (Third
and fourth grades)
You need: Two
players, one die and a recording sheet for game (has one 10 x 10
grid for each player)
How to play: Player
A rolls a die two times. The first roll determines the number of
rows and the second roll determines the number of squares in each
row. Player A draws a rectangle that corresponds to the rolls in
any location on the grid on the recording sheet, then writes the
number sentence (e.g. 3 x 4 = 12) in the rectangle.
Player B rolls the dies twice. Again, the first roll
determines the number of rows and the second roll determines the
number of squares in each row. Player B draws the rectangle that
corresponds to the rolls in any location on the other grid, then
writes the number sentence in the rectangle.
Players take turns. Each rectangle drawn cannot overlap
a previous rectangle. Each player continues until he or she is unable
to place a rectangle on the gird. At that stage, the player records
both the total number of squares covered by rectangles on the grid,
as well as the number of uncovered squares.
Variation: After rolling
the die twice to determine a product, the player can make any rectangle
that covers that number of squares.
Adapted from Math by all Means: Multiplication
by Marilyn Burns
Mathematics Education Collaborative
(MEC)
Building Support for School Mathematics: Working with Parents and
the Public
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