Adapt this game to the skill level of the players. Design a grid as you would for a word puzzle but provide questions that require a response to a mathematical problem. Emphasize that answers must be entered in numerals rather than letters.
Give each player paper and pencil. Use up to four dice. Each person rolls the dice, determines the total of the numbers shown and records it. The first player to reach 100 is the winner. This is a good game for young children.
Learning multiplication facts is a core part of elementary math. Make it easy and fun using a regular deck of cards. Remove the aces, kings, queens and jacks. Divide the students into teams. Show two cards and ask students to multiply the values. The first team to give the correct response keeps one card. After all cards are gone, the team with the most leads the next game. To make the game more challenging, hold up three cards.
Arm pairs of preschoolers or kindergartners with paper and crayons. Take a walk through the school and out to the playground. Ask the children to identify and draw anything they see that resembles shapes they are familiar with. When back in the classroom, discuss their findings and award a small prize to the pair that found the most.
For older students in a geometry class, present them with a list of geometric terms. Challenge them to photograph representations of those terms in their homes and neighborhoods.
To teach young students to do math problems in their heads and use a calculator, do both at once. Children work in pairs, one with pencil and paper and one with a calculator. Give them a subtraction, addition, division or multiplication problem to solve. Working together, they first find the answer without the calculator and then check it using the calculator. If the results don't match, ask them to figure out why.
Line up the class in two teams. Place two hotel bells on a desk. Present a mathematical problem. The first student in each line attempts to ring the bell and give the correct answer first. If an answer is correct, the team receives a point; if incorrect, player returns to the end of the line to wait for another turn. The faster the game moves, the more chances each participant gets. Determine beforehand if the game will continue for a set period of time or until a specific number of points is reached.