Both adults and children can and do suffer from math anxiety. Having fun can help develop math confidence. Does your family play any math games for kids? Here a few games that we can play with kids and they can learn to do by themselves. Please note, learning to use rules takes patience on our part.
One of the oldest games is Tic Tac Toe. It’s been around for over 2,000 years. There are magnetic and digital versions for playing in the car, and some big enough for playgrounds. Anything can be used for the x’s and the o’s, from dinosaurs to fruit loops but it’s hard not to eat the o’s. This game can’t be played alone, it needs a partner.
Cards can be used for several simple games. Before kids learn to count, kids and adults can turn cards over to see if they match. For young toddlers, you can use the numbers 1 to 5. A favorite came is War, where the person with the higher number takes the other person’s stack. Go Fish is another popular game for making pairs.
Dominoes are more fun for making lines that topple but the game is played in many countries of the world by matching the number of dots on one section to the same number on another piece.
Dice can be small, big or giant sized. Most dice have dots for 1-6 and are used as part of other games.
Board games are another fun way to include some math fun for kids and families. Passionate About Play shared this photo on Facebook recently, along with a funny commentary of what else can happen when playing games with kids. Do you remember playing any? Snakes and Ladders is played around the world.
For some outside fun, show kids how to draw hopscotch on a sidewalk or driveway. This can be played by one person alone or by several. Kids can have fun jumping in the squares before they figure out the numbers. The record for the longest hopscotch in the world is held by Detroit for one almost 4 miles long! Usually, hopscotches are somewhere between 10 and 20 squares.
There are many other games for kids and families. Have you seen the video of a grandpa and grandson playing one that uses a spinner and a plastic hand loaded with whipped cream? There’s lots of counting and laughing in this game.
As parents and caregivers, we so need to make sure math is fun for kids. Use it every day so kids feel it is part of their lives. Do you have some math games for kids and families?