Simple matching games work well for young elementary school children. For a twist on the classic game of "Memory" or "Concentration," create a set of playing cards with sets of the word for a geometric shape, such as triangle, and an image of the shape or an object with that shape, such as a slice of pizza. Arrange the cards face down and have students take turns turning the cards over two at a time until they make a match. Use more sets of cards to challenge older students and fewer sets for young learners.
As older students learn more advanced geometric terms, including types of angles or triangles, you can construct more advanced games for them to play. A simple guessing game can be constructed by drawing objects such as parallel lines, obtuse angles and other geometry terms on flashcards and holding them up for the students to guess. Give a point for each correct answer or for the first student to correctly answer each one. Include a list of choices for each player if playing with younger elementary students.
Sets of seven tiles, or tangrams, can be used to create hundreds of different shapes. Using basic printed outlines, elementary school students will enjoy spending time manipulating the tiles to fit into the outline. (See kidscom.com/games/tangram/tangram.html.) For a simple tangram game, select outlines that can be completed with multiple arrangements of the tangrams and see how many different ways to complete the tangram each student can figure out in a set amount of time. More advanced tangram games may ask students to use the tangrams to determine a shape's area.
Today's elementary school student can practice their geometry skills at home or at school through many different online geometry games. There are online matching, vocabulary and tangram games as well as numerous games designed to teach concepts, including transformations and spatial skills. University teaching programs, such as one offered by the University of Missouri (at ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/205?locale=en) offer child-safe lists of online math games. Textbook publishers such as Houghton Mifflin (eduplace.com/kids/mw/swfs/mathlingo_grade2_t.html) often have many well-researched and challenging games for every elementary age level. Online geometry games offered by companies such as APlusMath (aplusmath.com/cgi-bin/flashcards/geoflash) make an educational and stimulating alternative to traditional video games.