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!

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!

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!

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

Subtraction Squares

Fun, problem solving game for kids to practice subtraction skills from Learn with Math Games! This activity can be adapted to any age group. Younger kids can work with numbers less than ten. Older kids could work with 3 or 4 digit numerals.

Kids choose 4 numbers (anything they'd like) to write on the vertices of the larger square. Then, they just subtract (corner to corner). They write the differences on the next largest square's corners (where it meets in between on the line) and so on...

The big surprise is their final square! Like magic, all of the corners are the exact same numeral! Inference: See if kids can predict what will be their mystifying number before solving all their squares! Visit Learn with Math for a free template!

For more magical math check out:
Magic Square
Perimeter Magic Triangles
Calendar Magic 9

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!

ROLL 3 and do the math!

Practice making equations with 3 addends and using addition and subtraction within the same equation. Grab 3 die, use your subitizing skills, and get ready to roll! Instructions are on the game board.

Twister Place Value and Learning Games

I was inspired by Raki's Rad Resources Number Creation, so I made Twister Place Value for a math station, so kids could play independently. You need at least three players (one person spins the spinner and calls out, while the other two play), the game Twister, and numbers to stick on the mat. Kids follow the spinner (example right hand red). They choose a number on red to place their hand. Just like original twister, if right hand red is called out again, they must choose a different red numeral to place their right hand on. Kids spin the spinner and choose a numeral four times to create their final number in the place value of 1,000. After they have four numbers, they write their numbers down and try to create the largest numeral. For example, if they have 5, 8, 0, 3, they would write down 8,530. After they write down their number, then they must write the number in expanded form (8,000 + 500 + 30 + 0). Then, they compare their number with their opponent's using greater than, less than, or equal to signs. Whoever has the greatest number wins!


More Math - Check out Raki's Number Creation, as well as Twister Addition (Subtraction, Multiplication, Division) and Twister Graphing. Visit Catherine Weiskopf for Twister Fractions.


Literacy - Check out Raki's Twister Spelling, Parts of Speech with Categories, Silly Sentences, and Create a Word. Visit Academic Vocabulary and 2nd Grade with Mrs. Wade to see Twister Vocab.


View traditional Twister Rules

Kid Calculator

Draw an oversized calculator to help kids with math! Kids throw a stone on a number. Then, they have to figure out how to make the number (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division). For example, the stone lands on 8. You jump on 8. Then, you hop to 4, hop to the multiplication sign, jump to 2, jump to the equal sign, and hop back to 8. 

Excuse the 3 2 1 line (it's written backwards), my bad!

Magic Die

photo via alamy

Kids transform into magicians, being able to predict what number is on a die's bottom face, just by looking at the dots on top. All you need is one six-sided die. Roll it and say the number. Then, subtract the number from 7. For example, if you roll a 1, subtract 1 from 7. You get the number 6. Flip the die over, it's 6! This trick always works. No matter what the die lands on, always subtract it from the number 7. Impress your friends and work on your subtraction skills!

Ten More, Ten Less

Number and Operations in Base 10: 10 more, 10 less. Write numbers on a small piece of paper, fold, and mix in a container. Kids pull out a secret number, roll the (ten more, ten less) die, write the equation, and solve! 

Ten Frame Game

Roll a die and play the ten frame game!

Math Quest

Have fun with math around the classroom by throwing a Math Scavenger Hunt! The Go to Teacher has  a super fun even / odd scavenger hunt, which includes a whole printable unit on even and odd numbers! Kids split up into two groups, the evens and the odds, and hunt for numbers on post it notes. Then, they search through books, finding even and odd pages and words with an even or odd number of letters!


You can also take your math skills outdoors. Kids use their problem solving skills by adding and subtracting objects, skip counting, comparing things using less than or greater than, and distinguishing even and odd numbers around the classroom and outside on the playground. Smart First Graders has a free printable that incorporates math with living and nonliving things.


Minds in Bloom has a scavenger hunt for upper elementary that deals with angles, circumference, measuring, money, time, and division. 

Pizza Perfect!

Who doesn't like pizza?! Explore pizza with bubble maps, venn diagrams, fact families, and fractions! 

Name Math

Practice recognizing vowels and consonants, while working on math skills! 

Clementine Fractions!

I made up this activity when I was eating a clementine cutie with my nephew. Using food is a great way to teach kids fractions. Especially clementines, they have segments, making them an ideal choice for teaching kids basic fractions.