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Online Math Games
The best interactive math games I've found so far
There's only one reason for this page, and it's very simple. To my mind,- "online" means "interactive",
- "interactive" means "fun", and
- "fun" means "learning".
No matter what game a kid plays, if it's fun, they'll learn. They'll practice the skills the game requires. They'll commit to memory the information needed to win.
This being the case, surely it's best for a loving parent or teacher (such as yourself) to guide the games a student plays?
The whole purpose of this site is to make it easy for you to find "math games" for kids. Games where the skills and information needed are mathematical in nature.
This page collects together some of the best online math games I've discovered. Math games that combine graphics, sound and the power of the web to provide an interactive learning experience that your kids will call "plain old fun".
First, though, let me mention the interactive online math games found on this site itself. Please bear with me for a short while...
- The Traffic Jam Game will help a kid (or adult) practice logical and strategic thinking. There's also a Printable Version for offline play.
- 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!
- MathGolf is played on the computer, and the high scores for each month are recorded
on the website. However, as the tips for parents and
teachers explains, your children will do better if they spend time away from the computer with a pencil and paper, before coming back to the computer to enter their play.
- And don't miss my Bubble Breaker Game, Math Frozen Bubble, which needs quick-thinking arithmetic to win!
- This Spirograph Applet is sure to be a hit with the artistically inclined. You can use it to make pretty patterns, and if you choose to "trust" the applet, you can even save them to disk or print them out. I've also made a page explaining the math that kids will pick up while using it.
Now for the best online interactive math games on other sites. I must admit, I've only found two so far that really captured my heart from the start.
- The Lemonade Stand leads a child in a lemonade selling adventure! The player must make decisions about how much of each ingredient to buy, and what price to set for a cup of lemonade. Sales depend on the weather, of course. Kids will learn a whole gamut of skills, from basic money skills(arithmetic), through to economics concepts (price versus demand).
- Ghost Blasters is the second game I found that is really worth drawing your attention to! Blast away at "unfriendly" ghosts - how do you tell which ghosts are unfriendly? By the number they wear!
As I said, Lemonade Stand and Ghost Blasters are the only math games I've found so far that really captures the best of what the web can do. However, so as not to leave this page too empty, let me give you a couple more links.
- Yahoo games has a bunch of puzzle games, mostly no more mathematical than any other puzzle game. At least Twistingo will give a kid practice recognising numbers quickly.
- Prongo has a nice two-player addition challenge. It's more fun than a plain old worksheet, I guess.
Well, that's all for now. I hope I can expand this list of interactive online math games soon!
Yours, Dr Mike...
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