Early Multiplication Games
Multiplication is a vital part of math education throughout a student's school life, but younger children will struggle to concentrate on a list of questions straight from a textbook. It's important to make multiplication entertaining as well as educational by transforming the topic into a game or activity.
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Times Table Buzz
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Use the latest times table that children have mastered for this game, for example, the 5 times table. All the children have to do is count out loud, each taking a turn to say a number. So if one child says "1," the child to the right would say "2," and so on. Every time a multiple of 5 comes around the child whose turn it is must say buzz. Any child who does not say buzz at one of these points or who uses the word at the wrong time is out of the game. The winners are whoever is left standing when 5 times 10 is reached.
Math Bingo
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Create a set of bingo cards by drawing three horizontal and two vertical lines on a piece of card and filling the squares with numbers. The numbers you use will depend on the learning stage of the children. If your children know their 1, 2 and 3 times tables then fill in the bingo cards with numbers between 1 and 30. Now read a multiplication question, ensuring the solution does not exceed 30. For example, if you call out 2 multiplied by 5, then any child with a 10 would stick one of his markers (such as a coin) on that number. The first child to fill up the entire card wins the game.
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Who Has the Answer?
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Make a set of cards, one for each child. Each card should have a multiplication question and an unrelated number, separated by a vertical line. As with the other games, limit the difficulty of your questions to what your class is comfortable with. One child asks his questions and another has the answer and reads out another question. The game will continue like this until it has gone full circle and the original question asker has the final answer.
Roll and Multiply
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Split the class into groups of four. This is a good game for children who have studied multiples of 6. Create 36 cards, numbered from 1 to 36, to make a deck. Fashion a deck for each group playing. Shuffle these cards and deal two to each player, face up. Players roll a pair of dice for the highest number to see who goes first; the order is clockwise thereafter. A player must roll the dice and multiply the numbers that are shown, so a 3 and 4 equals a 12. If a player has that number she can flip it over; if not it is the next child's turn. The winner is the first player to flip over all of her cards.
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