Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Can Math ACTUALLY Be Fun?



Have you ever been to a math workshop and the presenter was so overly enthusiastic he made you think he was just a little bit crazy? "Math is fun! Kids love math! Yea! Yea! Math!" When just yesterday you had two kids yell out, "I hate math".  Take heart! I'm not going to jump all over the page yelling, "Yea Math!" but 30 years of teaching experience have taught me how to not only make math easier for kids, but makes math a lot more fun to do.  It actually just takes adding the one thing that grabs your students' attention faster than anything else...PLAY!  I love games and task cards to teach math! Worksheets are fine in their place, but to really LEARN about math it takes some real thinking, playing with numbers, and a receptive brain to really BOOST that mathmatical understanding. Sometimes those brains shut down, as that next worksheet lands in front of them. But give the same kid a game, a set of task cards, or a math activity and they are on fire! Often, games phase out after third grade, and that's when kids need them the most! Concepts get more complicated, and need more practice. With that in mind, I've included a number of really fun online/offline math games that are fun for centers/stations or even free time. You might even want to send the link home to parents, so their child can "play" their homework!


LOVE this site! It's for upper elementary, and gives supplies and procedures for playing math games in the classroom. Simple, but very effective! Nine games are included.


There are LOTS and LOTS of games here! Logic games, word problem games and much more!


This one is called "Cash Out" and comes in easy, medium and hard. 


If you haven't found Cool Math for Kids yet, do it now! It has lessons (yes, lessons) and games. Great for remediation or extension!!

If you want a great spot to find LOTS of great math ideas, games and freebies…this is the spot!


One of my favorite game sites…these games are lots of fun and SOOOO full of learning!

LOTS of great games here specifically for fifth grade students. Covers fractions, decimals, divisions and so much more!



If your kids need practice with multiplications, don't miss these great games!


It's always good to have some pre-made games ready for centers or group work. This site is full of great games that are easy to make and fun to play!


For great quick (5-15 minute) games that need little or no preparation, don't miss these great games that are also good fun fillers for that extra few minutes at the end of the day. 


Below is a math story unit, math centers resource and a free multiplication game!