Guest Post from Education.com: Math Facts Game

Math Facts Game

Practice makes perfect – especially when it comes to memorizing math facts. But does your child balk at flashcards, making multiplication practice a struggle? If so, consider playing this fun math facts game to help your child review the math problems that tend to trip him up. Especially enjoyable for kinesthetic learners or musically inclined children, the game combines music with movement and allows children to move around as they practice. Although the game is perfect for practicing the multiplication tables, it can be used for any math concept that children should be able to do in their heads rather than through writing.


What You Need:
Paper
Markers
Tape
CD or MP3 player

What You Do:
1. Make a list of math problems that your child is having difficulty with.

2. Write the answer to each of the math problems on its own piece of paper with a thick marker. Each number should fill up the paper and be dark enough for your child to see easily from several feet away.

3. Tape the numbers at random on a driveway, bare floor, or patio.

4. Turn on the music and let your child dance around on top of the numbers. After a few seconds, pause the music and call out a math problem, such as “Three times eight!”

5. Your child should then jump as quickly as possible onto the number that is the correct answer to the problem you called out.

6. You can keep on calling out math problems while repeating the previous steps. If your child has a friend over you can change the game into more of a competition, in which children race to see which one can jump on the correct number first.