Board Games Involving Math
-
-
With family game nights rising in popularity across the United States, teachers and parents look for new games that help students learn. Math homework often leads to anxiety and panic for both parents and children. Teachers recognize that the reason many kids do not enjoy math is because they do not feel confident about their skill level. Build skills and confidence at home by incorporating fun math games into the next family game night.
Addition and Subtraction
-
One of the earliest skills a child should master is how to add and subtract numbers. Children often find repetitive homework and flash cards boring. Enhance learning by playing games like World Class Baseball, Quizmo and Add Attack, which make adding and subtracting fun. Answering addition and subtraction problems quickly and correctly helps players move around the board and score points.
Money
-
Everyone grows up needing to balance a budget, pay bills and organize finances. Start kids early by exposing them to games involving math and money skills. Games like Monopoly, PayDay and Cash Bash help elementary school students learn to recognize bills and coins, add and subtract money, make change and budget their funds. These are the math skills that become invaluable as a child grows into adulthood.
Fractions
-
Fractions are often among the most difficult match concepts to master because students have trouble visualizing the fraction or applying the skill to everyday life. Teach kids about fractions using a childhood favorite, pizza. Games such as Magnetic Pizza Fractions Games, Pizza Fraction Fun Jr. and Piece-A-Pizza Fractions Smart Snacks help children improve their fraction math skills through association with pizza.
Tangrams
-
Tangrams are based on ancient Chinese puzzles and often feature a variety of colorful shapes. This puzzle game helps teach students about area, geometry and patterns. Working with tangrams also helps students improve their understanding of spacial relationships. Some examples of tangram games include Chinese Tangram puzzle, Square by Square, Shape by Shape and Quantumino game.
Purchasing Math Games
-
Often, math-centric board games are difficult to find at the local toy store. Use the Internet to help locate specialty stores or websites that deal in educational toys and games. Be sure to consult each game's recommended age group before purchasing it. If the game is too difficult for the youngster, he is likely to get frustrated. Likewise, your older child will become bored with a game geared toward younger kids. Work with games that complement the skills students are developing in school.
-
