Types of file folder math activities for eighth graders can include card games, competitive math games, board games and math video games. Math games, such as rummy, Skip-bo and even solitaire, help basic addition skills and strengthen logic. Board games allow students to incorporate cooperation with others while learning problem-solving strategies. Even classic games such as Yahtzee, Monopoly and Battleship help improve math skills.
Puzzles, such as sudoku and anagrams, also help students with problem-solving skills and work well as file folder activities for eighth graders. Put tangram shapes, which are puzzle-shaped pieces, into a baggie and have students attempt to copy shapes on an example page, such as a dog, rectangle or star. Students also can role dice or flip a coin to work with probability.
One file folder activity can include various worksheets to review previously learned skills. Other worksheets might provide more challenging work for students. Teachers can give students a page of word problems around a specific theme, such as football, a television show, their city or a motive. Students can work in pairs and help each other solve the problems. Other topics can include factoring, ratios, exponents, absolute value, geometry and statistics.
For a quick game that students can play with just two children, have children pick a number of the day. They should list as many problems as possible that have that number as the answer. Children can race against each other to create as many problems as possible. For a more challenging option, use problems that deal only with a certain concept, such as fractions, or that have stricter problems, such as using two or more steps. The teacher can award extra points for more complicated problems.