Math Games to Play With Children
- Engage children in a fun and interactive story, then sneak math problems in. Encourage the children to act out the story as you go, then when one character leaves the group, or gains or loses an item, ask how many children are left on the journey, or how many items they have collected. Math can be incorporated into nearly any interactive activity, whether you are measuring the play area, counting the blocks or dividing cards up evenly among players.
- Money skills are crucial to functioning every day. Playing games such as supermarket or restaurant and using play money to complete your transactions provides children with an excellent way to learn. They can add up the price of multiple items, subtract an item you have decided not to purchase and provide you with change. This game also works well with multiple children as there are money skills at play for both the buyer and the seller. A game of Monopoly with your child as the banker also incorporates money skills.
- Traditional card and board games can provide ample opportunities for learning math. Even the most basic games can be used to teach young children to count as they move their piece across the board. A card game called "Twenty-Five" is perfect for teaching both addition and subtraction. Deal the cards evenly to each player, having them keep them in a pile face-down. The first player turns over their card. The second player turns over a card and adds that number to the first. The next player turns over a card, again adding to the sum. Play continues until the sum reaches a number higher than 25. At this point, players must subtract until they reach a sum that cannot be subtracted without becoming negative. At this point they add again. The game continues in this fashion until the number 25 is reached. The player who hits 25 wins that round.
