Fifth-graders are mastering the art of multiplication. Create a multiplication station, with explanations of different methods of multiplication such as those from ancient India or Egypt or using Scottish mathematician John Napier's "Napier's bones" (see Resources). Include sets of "Napier's bones" for parents and students to use. To add a challenge to this, give each family the same multiplication problem and ask them to solve it using an assigned method. Have the families guess which method will be quickest before beginning.
Fifth-grade pupils are learning multiple ways to solve mathematical problems. Print out 15- and 33-cent "stamps" and set them at tables along with pencil and paper and a small package in the center. Ask each family whether they can combine these stamps to make $1.77 in postage for the package. Have them solve the problem on paper first before affixing the appropriate combination to their package. After each family has come up with a solution, discuss the different methods used as well as the methods the pupils have learned in the classroom.
Offer families a chance to re-enact their favorite game show with a math twist. Set up Math Jeopardy, Math Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or Math Wheel of Fortune using the basic structure of the television games. In Math Jeopardy, have each topic relate to an area of fifth-grade math. In Math Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, lifelines for the math questions can include the use of a calculator or "ask the teacher." Math Wheel of Fortune can have families guessing to fill in the missing numbers and operands in equations instead of spelling phrases.
Set up art tables with math-related craft projects. You can have grids of dots on paper that pupils and parents can connect with colored pencil to make their own tesselations, or compasses and pencils to create hexagrams. Families can also use hammers and nails to create string art frames using scraps of wood and then create string art with colored pieces of string. Any symmetrical art project or other craft can be used to illustrate the concept of symmetry.