14 minutes read
July 28, 2022
8 Math Board Games for Kids
Not many children enjoy math. But there are numerous ways teachers can make lessons fun. Kids are much more likely to become engaged in a class even if a topic doesn’t seem interesting if a teacher offers fun board games instead of boring exercises. If you are looking for ways to help kids brush up on math skills, you could try bringing fun into the class. Incorporating the best math board games for kids in the teaching process can combine learning and fun.
Benefits of Math Board Games for Kids
You may be surprised by how simple math board game ideas such as boards, decks of cards, dice, and cards can impact your child’s growth. Moreover, game boards designed for entertainment can improve a child’s social and educational development. Let’s looks at the benefits of math board games:
1. Board Games Offer Chances for Early Education
Even simple math board games help young kids learn to identify probability and number sequence, count spaces, and improve eye coordination while moving cards and pieces on the board. Additionally, a child learns the virtue of patience while waiting for their turn by following all the game rules.
2. Board Games Boost Language Skills
Some math board game ideas are sneaky ways of helping kids work on skills they have struggled with. For instance, there are particular online homemade math board games on Brighterly.com. Such games as Math Twister, 101 Points, and more help a child expand vocabulary and flex spelling skills. Parents and children should register at Brighterly to access games and many other valuable resources like videos.
3. Board Games Sharpen a Child’s Focus
When a child plays board games without interruptions, a game can lengthen a child’s attention span. Thus, a child can remain focused and complete a board game without obstruction, especially in today’s world which is filled with digital distractions. As a result, a child can improve concentration and attention span on a variety of tasks, boost self-confidence, and develop positive self-esteem.
4. Board Games Help Kids Understand the Value of Teamwork
Kids can learn meta-messages of life through board games. For instance, a child can learn a valuable math lesson about luck when playing a game because a child’s luck can change within an instant, either for better or worse.
Board games also encourage children of all ages to team up and complete specific tasks, something children should continue to do throughout life. For instance, games such as “Race across the USA” or “The Brainiac Game” encourage younger and older siblings to work together and complete a mission.
How to Make a Math Board Game Project
A time may come when children will be tasked with school projects such as making a board game. The important thing students need to determine is the goal of the game board. Specific questions should linker in your mind, such as:
- How will you present information in existing and new ways?
- How will you test players’ problem solving and critical thinking?
It’s easier to develop a board game that can entertain children, but it is challenging to develop a board game that works as a learning tool.
Requirements:
The materials to help you create a board game include:
- A board
- Two dies
- Two stacks of black cards
- A velvet pouch
- A black notebook for writing down game rules
This is a simple guide to follow and develop a math board game for drilling facts:
- Take a deck of cards with one equation on the front and the answer on the back
- Assign point values to each correct answer
- Decorate the game board to either propel players forward or set them back
The game relies on a timer to help you measure how many questions players can answer within a minute. The person who answers many questions becomes the winner and crosses the finish line.
8 Math Board Games
1. Shelby’s Snack Shack Game
Shelby’s Snack Shack Game is a perfect game for preschoolers to learn counting and numbers while having fun. Further, it helps kids develop fine motor skills and strategic thinking.
This game is recommended for kids aged 3+, and a maximum of 4 players can take part. Therefore, siblings can compete and establish dominance in a fun way.
The rule of the game is simple: competing players fight to collect as many bones as possible in their doggy bowl to win a particular round.
The game is played using two spinners on a colorful game board. The game also includes 40 bones, a game guide, four bowls, and 1 Shelby Squeezer.
Players have opportunities to get as many bones as possible from the beach. A player can steal a competitor’s bones, lose a turn, and protect their bones from being stolen by seagulls.
2. Fish Matching Tile Game Stix
Fish Matching Tile Game Stix is another beautiful board game that can help your kid familiarize themselves with color recognition, graphing, matching, visual reasoning, strategy, directionality, and counting.
The game is designed for kids from six years and can be played by 2-4 players at a time. However, players of different skill levels & ages can participate and play the game without a strategy.
The game’s challenge is to get all the available six fish tokens in the starting line on the score pad to the tenth box.
Players take turns during the challenge using fish stix cards resembling dominoes and compete to match the fish sticks played on the table. A player can only move a fish by matching it to the direction in which it should swim to other cards.
The game components are one paper score pad, 72 fish sticks, and an instruction guide. Players focus on using their eyes and wits to score points and win.
3. Sum Swamp Game
Sum Swamp Game is recommended for kids of ages from five and older. This game is adorable and encourages kids to learn basic math drills in a fun way. The activity is perfect for classroom learning and homeschooling.
The game includes a colorful game board, 3 number dice, four swamp creature game pieces, and a procedure die.
The objective of Sum Swamp Game is to challenge kids to try and reach the opposite side of the swamp. During the journey, kids learn the number of spaces to journey by rolling three dice. Two dice contain numbers, and the third one contains addition and subtraction math symbols.
During the journey, players run into spaces on the game board containing objectives to be accomplished, which makes the game even more fun.
4. Money Bags Coin Value Game
Money Bags Coin Value Game is a fun board game designed to help kids understand the value of dollar bills and coins. When your kid plays money bags, the challenge is to amass as much money as possible before the game concludes.
Players taking part in the game use a spinner and a die to journey along the game board, heading towards the designated finish line. Each time a player lands on a space, the space contains the amount of money a player has won along the way.
Along the journey, players can land in special spaces and win the available money bags jackpot. A player also has an opportunity to trade with their exact change at the bank, in exchange for a special interest bonus.
Money Bags Coin Value Game includes playbills, a game board with a spinner, dice, 100 plastic coins, and markers. The game is fun as kids collect, exchange, and count money to the finish line.
5. Prime Climb
Prime Climb is designed for older children from ten years old. The number of players recommended is 2-4 and is ideal for family board games, after-school clubs, classrooms, or homeschool.
The game has rules and variations which are easy to learn. Players can have fun because the game is endlessly replayable thanks to a wide range of vibrant mix of strategy and luck. The game also requires knowledge of division, addition, multiplication, and subtraction.
The game’s objective is to try and get both game pieces to drop precisely at the center of 101 circles.
One cool feature of the Money Bags Coin Value Game is the color-coded spaces. Kids who have difficulties mastering math can use the color-coded board to find answers to math problems.
6. Junior Game Thinkfun Math Dice
Junior Game ThinkFun Math Dice is a game that is highly rated by millions of families as the activity has a positive impact on kids’ development. This game helps develop critical skills in players through fun gameplay. While playing, a child works on addition and subtraction throughout.
The number of players participating in the game is two or more, and the game can involve players of all ages.
To play Junior Game ThinkFun Math Dice, a player must follow clear instructions which are easy to learn and can begin playing right away.
In the game, players begin by rolling five 6-sided dice or a 12-sided die. The 6-sided dice contain numbers 1-6 on every side, while the 12-sided die includes numbers 1-12 on every side and is known as the “target die.”
To start, the youngest player in the game is given the task of rolling all the dice. Then, all players observe the target die (the one with 12 sides) to know which number each player will add or subtract to reach the finish line.
The use of the five standard dice helps players discover which addition and subtraction facts are helpful to reach the target die value.
As the game progresses, the first player to discover a math fact that equals the target die is required to “Math Dices” and gather the dice involved.
Junior Game ThinkFun Math Dice has a cooperative version that can be enjoyed by the players of different mathematical levels.
7. MOBI Fast Fun Numerical Tile Game
MOBI Fast Fun Numerical Tile Game is another math board game featuring number and equation tiles.
The game has a simple objective for players involved – to use the available blue number tiles and develop a “Pod” in the fastest time possible when the game commences. The first player to use all the number tiles appropriately is declared the winner.
MOBI Fast Fun Numerical Tile Game is recommended for kids above six years, but everyone can enjoy it. The game is designed for solo or group play, and the maximum number of individuals to take part is 1-4 players.
This game includes 162 square miles and a simple guide packed in a cute blue whale pouch kit. Since the game is portable, kids can carry it everywhere and enjoy playing with friends in school, during travel, or at home with parents.
MOBI Fast Fun Numerical Tile Game helps kids build and improve early brain skills in cooperative play, sequential thought, hand-eye coordination, arithmetic, visual processing, focus & attention, identification & recognition, and fine motor skills.
If your kids are very young, it is advisable to remove the multiplication and division tiles for the young ones to play with addition and subtraction only. You can also get a solo version of the game to play alone without interruption.
8. High Seas ADDventure Addition Game
In this fun math game for kids, players race around the game board to become the first to touch the island. The game helps kids develop crucial math skills such as addition.
To participate, each player gets five cards that are faced upwards for the other players to see. The remaining cards on the table stay face down in the meantime.
Each turn during play, a child flips over a card on the community pile, and the other player races to discover which card each player owns to add up to the freshly tossed card equivalent to 10. The first player to shout “10” and grab the community card moves a step closer to the island.
Play continues, but players must be on the lookout for the available unique shark and octopus cards because they allow competitors to steal, or switch their cards.
Conclusion
Math should be enjoyed more than abstract equations, particularly for young kids. You can achieve this through offering math board games for your kids. They captivate children, increase children’s attention span, boost hours of practice, and foster critical thinking. In the long run, integrating math board games for kids improves a learning process, arithmetic understanding, and implants love for math.
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