Pet Shop Aquarium Math / Art

In this pet store math activity, students learn about adding decimals as well as area and perimeter by designing an aquarium and collaborating with their peers to create an entire pet store wall of aquariums! - Check out my post at We Are Teachers!

Kid Made Monopoly: Adding & Subtracting Decimals

Practice adding and subtracting decimals by having students create a class game of monopoly! Kids design a debit card and balance a checkbook. Check out my post at We Are Teachers! Click here for free printables!

Playground Design

Students practice regrouping decimals by designing a playground in cooperative learning teams! Click here for the printable.

Learning with Sticky Notes and Yarn

This hands-on review idea comes from Hands On as We Grow! (They did sight words). You can use it to assess students on any topic: operations and algebraic thinking, synonyms and antonyms or food chains (just to name a few). The food chain activity doesn't even need sticky notes (just print out images). The possibilities are endless with yarn and tape!

Connect 10

DIY math game from Books, Blocks, and Baskets! Kids try to make ten by connecting 4 numeral chips: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal! Check it out here!

Outdoor Math + Checkers

Practice your math skills by playing checkers! Check out Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational for a milk cap version (addition and subtraction).

Then, visit Crayola to see how to make an oversized checker board on the pavement! (featured above)

Add math equations to the blank boxes and you're ready to play! Kids move their checkers across the equations and try to solve them!

Magic 34

Amaze your friends with the Magic 34 trick! All you need is a grid with numbers 1 through 16. 

First, gather an audience and choose a volunteer. Next, say that you are a math mind reader and you can predict the sum of the four numbers they choose. Pretend to think, then, write the number down and put it in your pocket.

Directions:
1. Have them choose a number on the grid and circle it (any number).
2. Then, they cross off the numbers in the same row and column as the number they circled.
3. They keep choosing a number and crossing off the numbers in the same row and column, until they get 4 numbers.
5. They add their 4 numbers and you pull out the number (you wrote down) from your pocket. Is it 34?! 

Visit Learn With Math Games for the explanation behind this trick and for more math mind reading tricks!

Close to 100

Materials: Uno Numeral Cards (0-9) and Wild cards (at least 4)

(2-3 player game) Shuffle cards and deal out 6 to each player. Players use four of their cards to create two two-digit numbers. For example, a 7 and 6 could be 76 or 67.

Wild Cards can be used as any numeral (0-9).

The goal is to create 2 two-digit numbers that add up to a sum that is close to 100. Once players figure out their sum, they subtract their number from 100 (see example above). The player with the lowest score wins the round! 

For the next round, players put the cards they used in a discard pile and take four different cards. When finished playing, players add up their score for each round: lowest score wins!

Click here for free score cards and full instructions from Williston K-12!

Fruit Snack Math

The wrapper tells you how many fruit snacks are in the bag. Estimate how many of each flavor is in your bag before opening it.

Write a fraction for each flavor. Then, graph your flavors. How did your bag compare to your peers? Do you think that the flavors are evenly distributed?

Lay your fruit snacks out an a straight line. Can you find something that is the same length? (measure)

Find a friend and compare your fruit snacks. Who had more cherry? Did you have the same amount of cherry? Compare each flavor using greater than, less than, or equal to signs.

Create a multiplication array with your fruit snacks. Then, practice division. How can you divide your snacks evenly if you shared your bag with your mom and dad?

Write addition and subtraction number sentences: What is the sum of your strawberry and grape (2+3=5)? If you ate all of your orange and lemon, how many fruit snacks would be left (12-5=7)?

Make different patterns with your colors. Did you have any difficulty because of the colors in your bag?

More fruit snack activities:
Fruit by the Foot Ruler - measure by the foot
Chopsticks! - practice place value with swedish fish
Growing Gummy Bear - grow a gummy in water and measure!
Gummy Worms - How long can a gummy worm be stretched?
Fruit Roll Up - Area/Perimeter

Snappo

This fun math game comes from The Kentucky Center for Mathematics! I found this fantastic site (chock-full of games) from Mrs. T's First Grade. Check out her site for more game recommendations!

Snappo Directions (2 player game)
1. Divide uno cards (numbers only: 0-10) evenly among players. 
2. Players lay their cards face down in a pile.
3. Player one flips top card over and lays it on the table.
4. Player two flips his card over. If he can make 10, he captures both cards and says "snappo!" If he can't, he lays his card face up on the table.
5. Players keep taking turns, flipping cards, trying to make 10. They can use the cards on the table or cards opponent flips over. Their goal is to make 10, say snappo, and capture the most cards!

Game ends when there are no matches left. The player who captured the most cards wins!

House # Math

This activity is from one of my favorite sites for real world math, Illuminations! Students create a three digit house number, using numerals 0 through 9. The three numbers they choose must add up to a certain sum. They can't repeat numbers in their combination or begin their combination with 0. For example, if their number has to equal 6, one combination might be 321. There are 14 combinations if the sum is 6. If the 3 addends must add up to 7, there are 18 combinations. Visit Illuminations for details and printables to go along with the activity.

Afterwards, incorporate measuring by having students create a "house that measures up" from Cathy Searcey. After kids make their "house plan," they head outside and draw a large version of their house using sidewalk chalk. (House dimensions: 6ft. x 6ft. frame, a 3ft. x 1ft. door, and two 1ft. x 1 ft. windows).

You could also explore geometry by having students design their very own clubhouse! Click here for details!

Domino Math Puzzles

NRich Math has LOTS of fun math puzzles to help develop kids' problem solving skills. All they need is a set of dominoes! Click here for the full list! Check out domino magic squares and rectangles here! If you don't have dominoes, you can find printable versions online.

Featured above:
Domino Multiplication
Domino Magic Square (Rows, columns, and diagonal share the same sum)
Domino Magic Window (All sides equal same sum)

Magical Missing Addends

Now you see it, now you don't! Three hands on ways to explore missing addends!
Featured Above:
1. Paper Slider - Mrs. T.'s First Grade Class had fun figuring out the missing addend with a sliding bar! Click here for details, as well as for lots more awesome activities and printables!
2. Paper Peeker - Our Future is Bright created addition sentences with a mini flap for the missing addend. Visit her blog for a free printable!
3. Tell a friend to draw 2 cards and create an addition (or subtraction, multiplication, or division sentence) with a missing addend. Then, magically solve it right before their eyes!

Pac Man - Greater Than, Less Than

Awesome idea from The Feisty Classroom: Pac Man, Greater Than, Less Than! To turn this idea into a math station, I decided to make paper cutouts of Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, and the ghosts. Cut the shapes out of construction paper and add googly eyes. Don't forget to give Ms. Pac Man a bow! Put numbers on your ghost and have kids compare! Pac Man prefers greater numbers. They're more filling! 

To turn this into a 2 player game, you will only need one Pac Man. Lay all the ghosts face down (no cheating!). Each player pulls a ghost from the pile and lays it down. Whoever has the greatest number gets a point. - or - You could do who ever has the smallest number gets a point, because their ghost avoided getting eaten! You Choose! The player with the most points wins! 

For more of a challenge, each time a player wins, he writes down the number on the ghost. At the end of the game both players add up all of their numbers. Then, they compare their sum. Whoever has the greatest sum wins!

Number Bond Game

2 player game
materials: 4 straws, 6 paper plates (2 large, 4 small), tape

Younger kids - dice and number counters (or paperclips, beans, cheerios, etc.)
Roll the dice, using number counters, kids count out the number they rolled. Then, they place the number counters on the whole plate. They roll again, count out the number with their number counters, and place the counters on one of the "part" plates. Whoever figures out the missing part and places the correct number of counters on the plate first gets a point!

You can also use money. Ex: place one dollar on the whole plate and some coins on one of the part plates. Kids figure out the missing part, counting out coins.

Older Kids:
Kids pull two number cards from the pile. They place the larger card on the whole plate and the smaller card on one of the part plates. The first one to figure out the missing addend gets a point! 

The Greatest!

Practice place value and addition with three addends with this fun card game from Education.com! Each player gets dealt six cards. Next, they each create the highest three digit number they can make. Whoever has the largest numeral gets a point. Then, all the players add up their cards. The player with the highest sum gets a point. The winner has the most points at the end of the game.

For older kids you can deal out more cards; so they can work with higher place values and more addends.

Check out more uno math game ideas here!

Mr. Potato Head Math

Students roll 2 dice and practice addition with 2 one-digit addends. They refer to the sheet below to see what part of Mr. Potato Head to add next. The sum of the dice determines what part to insert.

Regrouping with a Place Value Mat

E is for Explore demonstrated regrouping 2-digit addition using dimes and pennies. But, what do you do when you're dealing with hundreds, thousands, and even higher numbers?! 3 Teacher Chicks simply used a place value mat (which they drew on their desk with dry erase markers!) and chips!


Activity: Take out a place value mat and label cut out paper circles, milk caps, number counters, or even small rocks with the place values your students are working on (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.). Next, have them make a visual representation of both numbers on their mat. Then, they do the math! See example below:

OUCH! Band Aid Fractions and Writing

Integrate literature, math, and writing with band aids! Pass out copies of Shel Silverstein's "Band Aids" poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends. Then, split kids up into teams of two. Have one kid trace the other on an oversized sheet of paper (butcher paper). Give each team 35 band-aids of various shapes or colors. Using the poem, they stick band-aids on the body outline (where Silverstein says they are placed). Next, they do the math! They figure out the total number of band-aids in Shel Silverstein's poem. Have them count up the total number of band-aids on the body outline. Then, they must refer back to the poem to figure out the total number of band-aids Silverstein used (poem says box of 35 more). Once they have figured out the total, have them write a fraction for each band-aid shape (or color).

Writing - After the math activity, have kids write about a time they got hurt. Kids love sharing bruise stories! Afterwards, use band-aids to perform contraction surgery or number operation!

Regrouping: 2-Digit Addition

Regrouping can be a very difficult concept for students. A great hands on way to teach adding double digits is with dimes and pennies. Kids figure out that they add digits in the ones place first. Then, they add the digits in the tens place.

First, they group their pennies together to create a ten (dime). They trade their ten pennies for a dime. Any pennies left over (that don't make a ten) represent the ones place. Next, they count the total number of dimes they have. The number of dimes represents the numeral in the tens place. Add all the coins up and you have your answer! This is a fantastic activity for visual learners. Below is an example: