Fun Math Classroom Activities
Fun math classroom activities use creativity and real world application to brighten a student's learning experience. Students who find real-world applications of math lessons through these activities retain knowledge because they can relate math to concrete situations. In contrast to rote memorization, fun math classroom activities appeal to a student's imagination and sense of adventure.
-
Cryptarithms
-
Cryptarithms are fun math activities because they draw on a student's imagination and inner desire for adventure. In a cryptarithm, a normal numerical arithmetic equation is replaced by letters. The aim of the activity is to find out what number each letter represents. Educators can use products like Dr. Mike's Math Games or Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School to find word equations. Give each student a word equation. Tell the students that each letter corresponds to a unique digit from 0 to 9, that different letters correspond to different digits and that no number in the sum is 0. Then, have students work out the solutions.
Let' Go Shopping!
-
This activity is for students learning percents and fractions. Have each student bring in different bakery or candy items. Assign each item a price and then mark it on sale. Educators can also hand out coupons to students that take off percents from their total purchase. Give each student a handful of monopoly money and scratch paper. The students can pretend to buy the items. Because the students must use all the money they are allotted, they must figure out the cost of each item. Students should make a list of their purchased items and how they came to finding out the cost after the sale.
-
Mathematical Mother May I?
-
Give each student a small white-board and a dry ease marker. Line up the students on one side of the classroom and clear the desks and chairs from the center of the room. The teacher will stand on the other side of the classroom and hold up math equations. The students will have to figure out the answer and write it down for the teacher to see on the white-board. The teacher will call out the names of those with correct answers. Students with correct answers take a step forward. The game continues until a student reaches the teacher.
Design that Play-Do
-
This activity is for students learning ratios and geometry. Place students in groups of no more than four. Each group will design the perfect classroom, first on paper, then in 3-D. The model of the perfect classroom can be anything the students want, but it must fit to scale. When recreating the model with Play-Do, the students must stick to a scale and provide exact measurements of each object. The students will enjoy the creativity aspect and playing with Play-Do. The teachers will love how students learn to maintain ratios.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Fractal Detail image by Mille from Fotolia.com
