Who doesn’t love a good board game? If you read my post Can Board Games Make Maths More Fun? A Review you’ll know that I’m a big fan of using board games to make math more fun.
One of the coolest things about my little ones’ school is that parents and kids can borrow math board games from the school library to take home or play there and then before school starts. I’ve seen 3 year olds learning the basics of fractions and 7 year olds building confidence in their arithmetic facts, all with great big smiles on their faces! Board games are a great way to make math practice painless. For those of you fellow board games fans, here are 10 recommended math board games, along with what parents have to say about them. Enjoy!
1. Mathopoly
This game board is a clever take on the classic board game Monopoly, but with math in every action. Roll the dice and move to a square to answer or figure out one of the curriculum standards-based questions to “own” the property.
What parents say “Math may not be your children’s favorite subject, but it might be if they play Mathopoly”
– Kyla Duncan – Wheat City Journal
2. Sum Swamp
Add and subtract your way through the swamp. Young children get to practise their essential arithmetic facts while having fun. This game received an Oppenheim Best Toy Award.
What parents say “I bought this for my 4 year old son as he HATED math with worksheets and flashcards. He wanted to play this game 10 times a day. He LOVES it! Before we bought this game, he was SLOWLY and reluctantly finger-counting addition. He can now add and subtract 2 numbers (1-6) by memory.”—customer from Texas
3. Equate
If your eight year old likes crosswords, this game will be a hit. Making equations can be a challenge. Eight year olds can begin making equations using addition and subtraction but older children can get more points using division or fraction tiles.
What parents say “It’s given my daughter great self-confidence in Math. Only complaint:The tiles are cardboard and thin. Easy to lose, but they come in a ziploc type bag.”—Elizabeth M.
4. Head Full of Numbers
Shake the “head” cup to roll the dice. Set the sand timer. Write as many equations from the numbers and symbols on the dice before sand runs out. Good for any number of players and level. This is an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award Winner.
What parents say “My oldest plays the traditional way, in making math problems. My preschooler tries to find matching numbers and sequences, and my other preschooler tries to identify the numbers. It is such a simple game that you can make up your own way to use it and play it.”—J. Gardiner
5. Sequence Numbers
The brightly colored cards have questions and the answers are printed on the game board. Place a tile on the answer. With five in a row, you have a Sequence! This bingo-like game is great for ages seven and older.
What parents say “Thus, whether you use the game cards or make up your own more challenging cards, this game will be fun as well as educational for your smart pre-schooler, your struggling grade-schooler, or even your genius middle- or high-schooler.” –Joan A.
6. Money Bags: A Coin Value Game
This game makes making change so much fun! Earn money while completing chores, like setting the table or for selling lemonade. The spinner makes exceptions such as, no nickels to make sure kids make use of the higher value coins. Monet bags is great for developing critical thinking and counting/coin sense.
What parents say “ It’s a game that is easy to learn and fun for the whole family! ”—a mom
7. Pizza Fraction Fun Game
Better be hungry for pizza as you play seven games in one! Identifying, adding and subtracting and matching equivalents help make making pizzas and working with fractions fun. The double sided spinners allow the difficulty level to be easily adjusted.
What parents say “I think this is an excellent game for teaching the different skills to do with learning fractions and can be easily improvised for each child’s learning/grade level. The games can be also be complemented with real pizza:)Recommended!”—J. Hayes
8. Dino Math Tracks Place Value Game
Dinosaurs rule with place value. Roll the dice to make four digit numbers. Get your dinos to their base before other players do. An Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award Winner.
What parents say “ Good concept and she is learning without even knowing she is doing math. ”—G.K.
9. Sumoku
Play five different versions, including a solo one, of this addition/multiplication game. Set tiles up crossword style to add up to multiples of the number on a die. Connect all the numbers for a complete Sumoku!
What parents say “I highly recommend Sumoku to anyone looking for a fun, challenging game.”—P. Yocem
10. Pay Day Board Game
Family finance is fun in Pay Day. Get paid and decide how to spend your money. Whoever has the most money at the end of the game wins. This classic game is for suitable for ages eight and up.
What parents say “This game is very fun. it can be as long or as short (time wise) as you want it. You learn about money and bills and such, but don’t really see it as a learning game because its fun….”—a kid’s review
Have you played any math board games recently? Which are your favorite ones?
Thank you for sharing. I’ve never heard of these before. Gonna put some of them on my wish list!
I use games in my class a lot.
Polygon, TriOminoes, & Number Rings, – good for adding, working with integers, multiples, and order of operations
Math Dash! (Mult/Div version and an Equiv. Fraction version) are great for basic skills practicing to simplify fractions
Rack-O is great for sequencing numbers, Least to Greatest
Mastermind and Othello are good problem-solving & logic games for 2 people (or teams). Shake-Up is a good one for 3 – 4 people
Blokus is great for visual-spatial reasoning with their shapes….and logic! Its Kinda Tetris-style, only their pieces can not overlap, only touch at the vertices (corners).
I love SUMOKU – very challenging for students, but aids in them learning MULTIPLES and working on various order of operations and basic skills to create the multiples with their give tiles…Get this for sure if you have 4th graders or older…..fun for adults too!
Yahtzee is such a great game for adding simple numbers 1-6.
I really like your math game ideas. They reflect and encourages students to be actively involve in this type of fun for educational learning.
Check out Three Sticks! Its a game that is based on geometry and is available on Indiegogo for pre-orders. http://igg.me/at/three sticks Do check it out and pre-order if you like