Welcome to my page of 'elementary math games' - full of games
for teaching elementary math! elementary school students will love them
and. This is why I've put this site online - so teachers and parents
like you will have plenty of ideas for math games to make math fun for
the kids you care for.
When I was a kid I loved to play with math. My mom and dad
encouraged this, providing me with many math games and math toys, which
gave me a deep intuitive sense of important math concepts. Number,
shape, size, arithmetic, logic, and much more. After all, kids learn best by playing, don't they?
Why should your kids miss out? They shouldn't! Your children
(if you are a parent) or pupils (if you are a teacher) should have the
same opportunity that I did to have math ingrained in them through the
fun that playing with these elementary math games can provide! If you
agree with this, then you've found the right page. Read on. The
children in your care will love you for it.
Your kids need not miss out! I believe your children (if you
are a parent) or pupils (if you are a teacher) should have the same
opportunity that I did, so math becomes ingrained in them through fun
and play! If you agree, and you'd like to give them that opportunity,
you've found the right page. What follows below is a list of all the
math games on this site that are suitable for elementary school kids.
By the way, it's on my kindergarten math games page that I list those games that are suitable for younger children.
Oh, and if you find the list below too long, check out these lists of games for specific grade levels...
And, without further ado, the list of games...!
The 1 to 9 game is a game where players have to collect three numbers that add up to 15. It will help teach arithmetic to younger kids. For older kids, it will help them with strategic and logical thinking. The game's page shows how to vary the rules to make it suitable for any elementary school grade.
This
Set Of Tiles can be used to help teach kids how to add and subtract numbers of more than one digit. Good for, say, first to third graders, or anyone who just doesn't 'get' the idea of carrying and borrowing 1's.
Do you have a group of kindy kids struggling to remember addition sums up to 10? Try this
math board game on them. You'll need to do some printing and cutting first, and find a die (dice) and some playing pieces.
Not exactly a game, but certainly a useful tool for teaching kids addition and subtraction facts - either actively through memory exercises, or passively through osmosis! These
addition and subtraction tables and charts are free, and ready for you to print and use.
One of these
addition and subtraction worksheets is especially designed as a learning tool, not just a revision exercise. The sums are ordered so that the child working through them will discover for themselves the relationship between addition and subtraction, and other important points. There are some plain vanilla revision worksheets too!
This Addition Trick seemed like magic when my uncle first showed it to me. I was 11 years old, I think. Here I explain the trick so you can amaze the 11-year-olds in your life.
An
Advent Calendar, besides being a great Christmas tradition, helps teach younger kids counting and calendars in a fun, exciting way. Download and print this free advent calendar, make up up with a trimmer and glue, and enjoy the Christmas countdown with your child.
This is one of two math tricks on this site that let you guess someone's birthday after a sequence of mathematical operations.
The Arithmetic Math Game is a game where players roll special dice and do arithmetic based on the results, hoping to reach a specific number goal. It is most suitable for grades four or five, but you can modify the rules to make it easier or harder.
In one famous puzzle, you must
make as many numbers as you can using only the given four digits and the basic arithmetic operations. I've worked out which sets of four digits make this puzzle the most interesting, and provided worksheets on this page. Good for grades four and up.
Mathteroids is an
Asteroid Shooting Game that will help kids with their times tables. As your rocket zips through space, you must be careful to only shoot multiples of the given number - or face dire consequences!
The
Big Numbers Contest is an educational experience for kids, with the excitement of competing against kids from all over the world! Get your charges cracking their brains to think of the biggest number they can and send in their entry forms as soon as possible.
In the
Upside-Down Calculator Word Game, kid will learn how to make their calculator talk! Then they can have hours of fun as they prepare messages for their friends encoded as arithmetic sums.
Try the
Fractions Card Game if you have children who need to practice adding and subtracting fractions. There's a set of playing cards to print and cut out, and suggestions for at least three games you can play with them. In one, the aim is to find groups of cards that add up to one, so kids will pick up skills in addition and subtraction of fractions, as well as reducing fractions, as they pit their wits against one another.
In
This Challenging Math Puzzle you have to place the numbers one through eight in a grid, such that no two neighboring squares have consecutive numbers. It's possible to solve, but it can be quite tough. I've seen 4th graders baffle away for weeks at this puzzle, but its 5th grade and 6th grade kids who seem to have a more realistic chance to solve it. Enjoy!
In this
Chess Jigsaw Puzzle, a chess (or checker) board has been broken into eight pieces. See if your children can join the pieces back together!
You can use the
Dot Joining Game just as a fun game for the kids while camping, or as a classroom exercise to help children realise that math often forms hidden patterns behind ordinary things.
The
Easter Date Worksheets allow a child to compute the date of Easter Sunday in any year at all, with no math more complex than long division. Alternatively, try younger kids on the simpler versions of the worksheets - fewer calculations, smaller numbers, but they only work in certain centuries.
The six different
Fractions Quizzes on this site are like an online version of
Flashcard Stepping Stones. Choose your fractions topic, then choose which of 3 characters (a pegasus, a clownfish or a rocket) you will help! Then, answer a series of fractions questions until you reach the goal. The further they progress, the more challenging the questions become!
Fish Plus One is a game with simple rules, for teaching addition facts such as 3+1=4. It can be played with a normal set of playing cards, or UNO cards. Once kids have mastered adding 1 to numbers, you can move them on to Fish Plus Two, Fish Plus Three... or maybe even
Fish Plus Plus!
Fizz Buzz is a well-known game. It gives practice identifying multiples of 5 and 7. It's a great math game for kids, and a hilarious ice-breaker for adults too! At the web page you'll find a "fizz-buzziness calculator" that will determine what a player should say for any given number.
Are you finding flashcards a drag? Try your child on the
Flashcard Stepping Stones game. It's easy to set up, and the rules are simple.
Another tool for helping kids "get" multi-digit numbers is the
foldable number sheet. Print as many as you want, cut and fold, and watch the movie for tips on their use.
Print out and make this set of
Fractions Dominoes. It's a fractions activity designed to help kids recognise how much of a circle each fraction represents. Unlike some other math games, winning is not just about being better at math - but the game nonetheless provides great learning opportunities.
This
Fraction Simplifying Puzzle challenges kids to simplify a collection of fractions and observe which ones can and can not be simplified. There are variants of the puzzle that make it suitable for kids just learning fractions, all the way up to lower high school.
MathGolf is another game where calculators might be handy. Players choose how far they can hit with their iron and wood clubs, then see what they scored for the course. As the
tips for parents and teachers explains, the kids will get the most out of it if they plan their strategy first, away from the computer. You might let them use a calculator for the planning bit.
In this puzzle, the goal is to cut a
Heart-Shaped Biscuit into three pieces, so that each piece contains only one color of
sprinkles. The cuts will be very twisty and wiggly, but that's fine for this puzzle. Because of the shape of the biscuit, this puzzle is perfect for around Valentine's Day, but it can also be used at any other time of the year.
Print these
Magic Number Cards, learn how to use them, and with a bit of practice you'll be able to amaze your friends with your number guessing skills! This page provides the traditional version of this trick, as well as a few variations of my own invention. Full instructions and a video example are available at the web page.
Looking for
Magic Square Puzzle Worksheets? Look no further! The page contains about 30 worksheets with about 40 magic square puzzles. Also, there is a link to a page explaining how the puzzle worksheets were made.
There's a
Math Board Game that will teach kids arithmetic skills as they aim for a goal.
This
Math Card Game will make your kids actually
like practicing their sums!
Math Frozen Bubble is an online interactive bubble buster game that also helps kids practice their arithmetic. Good for grade 4 and up.
Or play a game of
Math Hangman? "Three strikes and you're out" is the rule as kids try to guess the hidden math word or sum! Good for almost any grade level!
These
Math Mazes are good for puzzle-loving kids as they learn their 7 and 8 times tables. They may look like ordinary mazes, but knowing your times table will help you reach your goal!
Math Lines is like 'Zuma' with a math twist. A twisty row of colorful numbered marbles winds its way across the screen. If they get too far, that's the end of the game. Blast away with marbles of your own, and if you join two marbles that add to 10, they'll explode and give you more time to win. Can you make it to the next level?
In
Math Pathways you do a sequence of arithmetic sums, over and over on different numbers, and this shows you the way across a grid of numbered balls. In the hardest level, you aren't even told what sums you need to do, but have to figure this out from the numbers in the grid!
Playing
Mathino is a card game you canm play with an ordinary pack of cards, which will make your children keen to practice their mental arithmetic!
This
money counting memory game allows kids from the United States, UK, Australia, the EU and Singapore to practice counting money in a familiar game
Try your 2nd graders to 7th graders on the
Pizza Cutting Puzzle! This puzzle can be made as easy or as hard as you like, so you can tune it for any age group.
This
Power Puzzle is an exercise to get kids exploring numbers with their calculator, and observe patterns in the numbers they explore.
By working though the
Rice and Chessboard Worksheets, kids can get a feel for how fast numbers grow when they are repeatedly doubled. The worksheets are based on a modern version of an old story, where a man was awarded a quantity of grains of rice for each square on a chessboard, with each square having twice as many grains as the one before.
The
Sight Numbers exercise is designed to help kids memorise their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts in an efficient way. This exercise, even if introduced through a school classroom, would depend mostly on parental involvement - about 5 minutes a day with your child - so it's particularly ideal for the homeschooler!
Get your kids to try out these
Sliding Blocks Puzzles just for the challenge of solving them, or get them thinking about the deeper questions of what makes a sliding block puzzle solvable.
Squink is a Brain Puzzle where players have to find the squares in a pattern on a grid, and count how many squares surround each location. There are two ways to play - you can count the squares in the pattern shown, or you can find a pattern to produce the counts shown. You can also design patterns of squares and share them with your friends!
Times Tables Memory is a memory game that will help transfer times table facts from short-term to long-term memory. It can be played solo, or with a friend.
If your kids like more action, and they are at the same level with their times tables, try
Times Tables Snap!
Looking for a
Times Table Board Game? Print out the playing board and the question cards, and start rolling the dice! Good for small or medium groups of kids, from grades 2 to 4.
These
timetable worksheets will give your child practice reading timetables, schedules, itineraries and the like.
Why not try the
Traffic Jam Game (or the
Online Version)? It's a collection of logic puzzles, ranging from simple to challenging. The brightly-colored playing pieces and simple rules will capture your kid's hearts.
Well, that's all for now. But visit back often, so that you'll always be the first to see any new elementary math games that I put on this site!
Yours, Dr Mike....
Games