Learning Activities for 3rd Grade Math

Teach your students how to have fun with third grade math.

Grade school is a time when children learn concepts that provide the foundation for the rest of their schooling, and math is a fundamental topic taught in the third grade. Fun learning activities will keep your third graders interested in the subject. Although some people shy away from math, fun third grade math activities will help your students become proficient at math and enjoy it too.

Graph

Teach your students how to use graphs. Learning to use graphs is part of the third grade math curriculum. Help your students make a birthday bar graph. Write each month of the year at the bottom of the graph. On the side of the graph, write the numbers from one to 30. Have the students take a poll of how many kids in the class have birthdays in each month. After the poll is done, add the results to the graph. For example, if two students have birthdays in March, have your students draw a line from March to the number two.

Multiply

Third graders are starting to learn how to multiply and you can play a card game to practice multiplication. Show them how to count by two by playing a number doubling game. Show your students a card with a number on it. Have them tell you what the new number will be once it is doubled. For example, a card with a two on it would end up being a four.

Fractions

Play a game of dominoes. Make your own third grade math dominoes out of cardboard. Instead of using dots, one half side of the domino will have a fraction, and the other half will have a fraction in the form of a pie. For example, write 2/3 on one end and draw a pie that has one half colored in. Tell your students to line up the dominoes by pairing the numbers with the correct pies. This activity shows third graders how fractions look in different forms.

Add and Subtract

Use cards to practice addition and subtraction. Make cards that have different numbers on them. Use the numbers between one and nine. Show your students two cards and ask them to add the numbers up. Then ask them to subtract the numbers. This activity helps your third graders memorize the outcomes as well.

References

• education.com: 3rd Grade Math Activities
• Dr Mike's Math Games for Kids: Third Grade Math Games