Marvelous
Math Game Gift Ideas
Are you looking for some math games that will be exciting, keep
your child focused, provide opportunities for you to teach your child to be a
good winner, or better yet, a good loser, yet be educational for your
child? These games can easily be found at
our local stores or on the Internet.
They will help your child to maintain their academic focus while
having FUN WITH MATH!
TITLE of Game…and the MATH
SKILL they assist with:
Angry Birds: weights, angles, positions, trial/error
Battleship: algebraic thinking, plotting coordinates
Blokus / and Blokus Duo: algebraic thinking, area, spatial sense
Bop It/ and Simon: repeat auditory patterns with physical actions
Dicecapades: basic
facts, physical actions, trivia, spatial sense, art
Dominoes: algebraic thinking, addition, subtraction,
fact families
Farkel: patterns, probability, addition with large
numbers
IZZI: algebraic
thinking, patterns, area, spatial sense
Legos/ Kinects / and Lincoln Logs: angles, 2/3-dimensional construction
Mastermind: algebraic thinking, patterns, trial/error
Monopoly: addition, money, addition, subtraction, real
world applications
Othello : algebraic thinking, area, spatial sense
Perplexus :rotate/reflect/rotate, matching
Rubik’s Cube: rotate/reflect/rotate, matching
Rush Hour: algebraic thinking, area, rotate/reflect,
spatial sense
Quirkle: attributes, shapes, algebraic thinking, area,
volume, spatial sense
Sudoku: algebraic thinking, patterns
Trouble: algebraic thinking, counting
Uno: algebraic thinking, patterns, counting
Yahtzee: algebraic thinking, patterns, addition
deck of cards: algebraic thinking, patterns, place value,
basic facts, attributes
Most of these titles are appropriate for ages 5 - 99. Use the
vocabulary words that they see/hear in their math lessons like: rhombus (not
diamond), horizontal/vertical/diagonal, column/row, clock-wise, etc. Enjoy playing
and learning together.
When playing games with your children, please.....DO NOT LET THEM
WIN! Model strategies that are "winners", and they will follow your
example. We want children to aspire to be as smart as you really are, not
instill a false sense of success. Talk about
what you are doing and why. When it is their turn, ask them what
will be their expected result......be their COACH. You won’t
have anything but a wonderful educational and exciting experience, as well as
truly understanding the math within the games.
These times are precious and won’t last forever!!!
If you need to clear out game space for new ones,
donate your math games to your child’s classroom for everyone to enjoy, or
maybe purchase an extra one when buying your child one. Their classroom will
appreciate your kindness!
