Many parents of preschoolers show a great interest in helping their children become ready for starting school and often ask what they can do at home to help foster their children’s mathematical learning.
Among other activities, I believe that math games can effectively engage young children in meaningful mathematics learning. The Kindergarten Math Games Manual has many games that are appropriate for 3-5 year olds.
Math games for three-,four-, and five-year-olds? Is this a developmentally appropriate way to get young children interested in math and ready for school?
I’ve been teaching math to children for many years, and I’ve found that math games are, from a teacher’s and a parent’s point of view, wonderfully useful. Math games put children in exactly the right frame of mind for learning. Children are normally very eager to play games. They relax when they play, and they concentrate. They don’t mind repeating certain facts or procedures over and over.
Children throw themselves into playing games the way they never throw themselves into filling out workbook pages or dittos. And games can help children learn almost everything they need to master to get ready for the elementary school years. Good, child-centered games are designed to take the boredom and frustration out of the repetitive practice necessary for children to master important math skills and concepts.
Playing math games is even more beneficial than spending the same amount of time drilling basic facts using flash cards. Not only are games a lot more fun, but the potential for learning and reasoning about mathematics is much greater, as well. In a non-threatening game format, children will be more focused and retention will be greater.
At the very simplest level, give the following two games a try:
Cover Up!
What you need:
2 players
1 die
paper and pencils
number line for each player (write the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,&6 horizontally and fairly large on a piece of paper)
6 counters (M&Ms, paperclips, tiles, beans, pennies, etc.) for each player
The winner of Cover Up is the first person to put a marker on all six numbers.
Players take turns rolling the die and putting a marker on the corresponding number on his/her number line. If a number already has a marker on it, that player loses his/her turn.
Variation: Roll two dice and add them together. Each child will need a
2-12 number line.
This game seems simple, but it really helps young children recognize the dots on the dice. When they begin, they may need to count the dots each time, but soon they ought to learn what number the dots represent without counting them.
Roll Them Out
What you need:
2 – 4 players
1 die
deck of cards – 7’s – 10’s + face cards removed
Shuffle cards. Each player gets 5 cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in a pile.
Player #1 rolls the die. The number shown on the die is the number the players look for in their hands. If they have that number, they must give the card(s) to the die thrower. If no one has that number, no cards are given to the die thrower.
Players alternate turns. After each turn, each player makes sure they have at least 5 cards in their hand. If they don’t, they draw from the pile to bring them up to 5 cards.
When all the cards in the pile are gone, the player with the most cards is the winner.
