MATH GAMES

Summer is supposed to be fun. Most students want a break from the relentless schedule of school and most parents are faced with the reality that they still need to work. So camp is answer for most families. Thankfully, camps today are full of outdoor experiences that let children move their bodies and do activities that the busy school year can keep them from experiencing. So how do parents work in small moments to keep of math skills and prevent the summer learning loss I mentioned in my Facebook post? Math games can be a really great way to have fun as a family and practice some of those basic math skills.

Need some ideas? Well, you are in luck. Below are a list of some popular games you might already own and ways to make them more math focused.

Uno

Remember that at the end of each round, players need to add up the cards. Help your child if he or she needs it, but try to get them to do their own addition with the help of paper and a pencil.

Dragonwood

This great adventure card game is all about the dice. If you have a younger child, adding the dice can be easy as they only go up to four and there are a total of 6 (by the end of the game) and often as few as four.

Desk of Cards

Turn any deck of cards into a math war. This twist of war is basically the same as the old-fashioned game, but each player presents two cards instead of one at each turn. The person with the higher sum winds the round. Just make sure to give your face cards number values. If playing with older kids, make Jacks, Queens and Kings larger numbers. For younger kids, make those cards have simpler numbers. Working on multiplication? Well just take the product of the two cards and the highest wins.

Sidewalk Chalk

Get creative with sidewalk chalk. Not only can you just make large math problems, you can create math hopscotch games that help children practice skip counting (a precursor to multiplication).

If you want more ideas, check out these games reviewed by Scholastic.