Create an equivalent pizza fractions game. Obtain several containers of clay of different colors. Choose colors to represent items such as dough, pepperoni, sausage, and cheese. Have the students work in pairs to form two to three pizzas with toppings of their choice. The teacher can then select a pair of fractions at a time, and have the students partition the pizzas to demonstrate how the numbers are equivalent. The pizzas can be rejoined to demonstrate different fractions, or the slices can be divided into more pieces. The game can also be played with construction paper, pens, scissors, and glue or tape. The students can create the pizzas, and glue or tape the toppings on to large round circles. As an example, two-slice and eight-slice pizzas can be created. To demonstrate that one-half is the same as four-eighths, the students would remove one slice from the two-slice pizza, and four slices from the eight-slice pizza.
Devise an activity where students are given a series of fractions, and then must demonstrate their equivalents by coloring parts of pictures. Construct a sheet or booklet with a series of themes. The themes can include areas in science, sports, technology, history, or food. Specific areas include planets, plants, fish, insects, or animals. Pictures can include candy canes, zebras, or remote controls with large buttons. As an example, the teacher can select two-fifths, and then have the students guess the answer and color part of a picture. If the theme is technology and the picture is a remote with ten buttons, then the students would color four of the ten buttons for the correct answer.
Devise a series of contests with marbles. Separate the students into pairs. Give each of them a set of different equivalent fraction problems. They should also have two small bowls or cups that are partially filled with marbles that are the same color. The students are to mix the colors in different proportions to form solutions to the problems. If students are given two-sixteenths to solve, then they should mix one red marble with seven white ones to form one-eighth, for example. The students can place the mixtures in small cardboard sheets or boxes that have holes cut into them. Checkers, gumballs or jellybeans may be substituted for the marbles.
Create a simple pen and paper puzzle where the students are given a few rows of fractions. The students are to draw lines to connect the equivalent ones. The lines can be arranged in a predetermined pattern, to form a shape or picture. The series of fractions can be related, such as one-half, two-fourths, or four-eighths. The puzzle can also be arranged such that only two fractions are related, instead of several. In this case, the students can be instructed to select or circle the numbers with the largest denominators, and then to draw lines only between the circles. In an example of one-half, two-fourths, three-fifths, and nine-fifteenths, only two-fourths and nine-fifteenths would be connected.