First Grade Math Games

Free math games for grade 1 kids

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This page lists all the grade 1 math games on this website. If you are a teacher or parent of first graders, you'll surely find something useful here!

It's actually quite hard to classify games into "grades". There's a few reasons for this. Firstly, different school zones cover different topics in different grades. In some countries or states, kids move through math topics faster than in others. The result is that a math skill that kids learn in grade 1 in one place might be taught in grade 2 or even kinderdarten somewhere else.

Another reason is that some students learn quicker than others. A bright kindy kid might be quite happy learning grade 1 or 2 math skills.

So please, although I've assigned "grade levels" to each game, please take these levels as just my best guess. They aren't matched to any particular curriculum used in any particular place - after all, this website gets visitors from almost every country in the world. So check out the games below, use your judgement to decide if I've pitched them too high or low for your particular children, and do explore the lists of games for other grades!

Here's links to the other lists...

Another worksheet for practicing counting and reading numbers. This time, the child must match the printed number against the box with the correct number of circles. Try it! Good for grades kindy
The Tangram Puzzle is a simple jigsaw puzzle that originated in China over 1000 years ago. Despite its apparent simplicity, there are a huge number of patterns the pieces can be arranged into. This site has a Printable Tangram Puzzle for you to download and cut out. Good for grades kindy to 4
Dice of Destiny is two games in one! There's a simple game (Dice War) for kindy or pre-K kids to learn counting, and the much more complicated battle game that it morphed into when I was play-testing Dice War with my (pre-teen, not pre-K) son. All you need is some dice and (for the complex game for older kids) a pack of ordinary playing cards. Read the rules of Dice of Destiny here, and have a quick game now! Good for grades kindy to 7
The Daily Hex Flood Puzzle gives you a new strategy puzzle every day for you to warm up those brain cells. Transform the grid of hexagons so that the whole grid is a single color. Challenge yourself to beat your best score (he game keeps track of all your stats), and challenge your friends to see how well they do! You can read more here, or here's a direct link to the game! Good for grades kindy to 12
Kindy Bingo has some printable 3x3 bingo cards, suitable for kids who know the numbers 1 through 10. Each set of three numbers appears at most once in the set of cards. If you don't want to have a winner after only three numbers are called out, the web page explains which three numbers can be your first three. Good for grades kindy and 1
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. Good for grades kindy to 2
This page has a link to a file you can print onto cardboard and cut out, to make a great toy for learning number and arithmetic. It's a set of blocks - or at least, the closest I could get to a set of blocks printed on cardboard. The page also suggests a number of games you can teach a child to help them get the most out of the game. You'll need a color printer. Good for grades kindy
This is the Online Traffic Jam Game. Traffic Jam Game is the famous game where you have to move the red car out of the traffic jammed parking lot. This free online version has hundreds of puzzles, as well as links to PC, Mac and Android versions you can buy. Good for grades kindy to 12
Math is not just about number. On this page I've provided a printable version of a toy my mom gave me as a child. It's a collection of tiles of different shapes, sizes and colors. The page also gives suggestions for how you might use them to benefit your kid or kids. You'll need a color printer. Good for grades kindy
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. Good for grades kindy and 1
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. Good for grades kindy to 3
Sometimes a bit of practice helps. The worksheets on this page give a child practice both counting and recognizing printed numbers. The kid is supposed to read a printed number, then draw the correct number of objects in the space provided. Good for grades kindy
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! Good for grades kindy and 1
 Get into Groups Of... five minus two!  This game is a great game for younger children - because it involves lots of running around! Good for kindy kids, also for 1st and 2nd graders. The page shows how to vary the rules to make it interesting for older children too. Good for grades kindy to 2
Try Fish Plus One for kids who need to practice their basic addition skills. This game can be played with a normal pack of cards, once the picture cards have been removed. Once your kids get good at Fish Plus One, move them on to Fish Plus Two, Fish Plus Three, and finally Fish Plus Plus! Good for grades kindy and 1
This Kindy Subtraction Game goes hand in hand with the Kindy Addition Game elsewhere on this site. It lets you teach kids the idea of subtraction using something dear to their heart - yummy snacks! Good for grades kindy
Here's a fun game that is almost guaranteed to make your kids love math, particularly addition. They'll love it for one simple reason - food! To play the game, you only need a printout of the colorful picture provided (there's also a black-and-white version), and a supply of small yummy snacks. Sultanas worked best for my son. Full instructions, and tips on how to avoid behavior pitfalls, are provided. Good for grades kindy

Well, that's all for now. But visit back often, so that you'll always be the first to see any new grade one math games that I put on this site!

Yours, Dr Mike....