Five Fun Math Board Games to Motivate Your Child While Practicing Math

When faced with the task of practicing math through things like math homework, a child’s typical response would be of exasperation and hesitance. In fact, 84% of children find taking out the trash or going to the dentist more appealing than completing their math homework. If your child exhibits the same attitude towards math homework, then what else would help them practice their math skills? The answer is simple: math games.

Math games do a lot more than simply raising a child’s entertainment levels. These games encourage critical thinking, logic, enhance computational fluency, and deepen children’s understanding of math concepts.

While also giving children and parents an opportunity to further bond, math games also help build the perspective that math is applied everywhere, not just in school. Below are some examples of enjoyable math games to help your child see the fun in math:

1. Proof! Math Game

As a Teacher’s Choice Gold Award Winner, Proof! is a fast-paced yet exciting game that engages children, families and even teachers with its mental math olympics. The game starts with a selection of number cards where players have to make an equation among these cards. Players have to shout the result of the equations they find and then show proof with the cards presented, gathering these cards once proven. The player with most cards wins the game!

This game is an amazing opportunity to practice one’s math skills regardless of their level. The rules can be easily customized for young children or played normally, as gifted students will also enjoy its challenges with each play. Engaging and easily differentiated for all types of students, Proof! is an excellent math game to practice computational fluency.

2. Math War (Addition and Subtraction Cards)

Math War is a classic math game that brings children delight and math fun every time they play! As a multiplayer game, children flip over cards and solve the equations they present. The child with the highest card result wins the round, keeping both cards.

With vibrant and kid-friendly numbers and illustrations, this math game has children improving their math skills without them realizing it. Time limits can be set to test the players’ mental math skills, motivating them to find strategies for quick yet efficient problem-solving!

3. MOBI (Numerical Tile Game)

Build your child’s math confidence with MOBI; a strategy game that reinforces children’s math skills, sequential thought and automaticity. As a simple yet fast-paced math game, each player draws tiles and uses them to create simple equations, forming a crossword-like pattern. Whoever uses all their tiles first has to yell “Mobi” to win!

With only these little tiles needed to play, MOBI is a travel-friendly math game that allows children to become familiar with math at their own pace. Children can practice mental math in short intervals to keep them engaged yet educated. Perfect for family fun and friendly competition, this easy-to-play math game accommodates up to 6 players.

4. Sum Swamp Game

Sum Swamp is an adorable math game that features lively illustrations and immersive math gameplay. Players navigate the swamp using dice, facing math challenges and comical swamp creatures as they race through this engaging adventure.

Children playing the Sum Swamp math game apply their knowledge of addition and subtraction, having their mental math skills help them to victory. Colorful game pieces, challenges like the ‘endless loop,’ and mischievous shortcuts delight children in this fun-filled math adventure.

5. Kanoodle

As an easy-to-understand yet difficult-to-solve math game, Kanoodle encourages children to explore math strategies using their critical thinking and math knowledge. Tactile and colourful, Kanoodle can be played using the easy levels of 2-D puzzles, in which players have to complete a 5 x 11 board with 12 pieces – very reminiscent of Tetris. When a player has successfully won all 2D levels, they can move onto solving the more challenging 3D puzzles requiring 5 tiers with the same puzzle pieces.

Kanoodle’s devious game concept brings joy to those who solve the puzzles, reeling them in with the more difficult puzzles – even for adults. Children as young as 7 can play the game, developing spatial orientation and understanding geometry in an entertaining manner. Parents and children can tinker with puzzles, reinforcing math knowledge and quality time.

Math games are one of the best opportunities for children to practice their math skills! Once the word “math” becomes attributed with “fun”, your child’s performance and confidence in math will soar in no time. If you’re looking to elevate your child’s math skills in addition to math games, we at MathProject can help them reach math excellence. Get in touch with us to book a free assessment today by calling 1-844-628-4243. For more information on MathProject’s specialized math programs, visit our website at https://mathproject.us/.

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Citations:

Proof! Math Game – proofmathgame.com

Math War Addition & Subtraction Game Cards – schoolzone.com

MOBI Fast Fun Numerical Tile Game – playmobi.com

Learning Resources Sum Swamp Game – learningresources.com

Educational Insights Kanoodle – educationalinsights.com

Math Games and Math Homework – mathgamesandactivities.com

Why Play Math Games? – nctm.org