Addition Games For Children
Math Games Add Up To Fun

See, Kids and games go hand in hand. Addition games for children is just a natural. One without the other just doesn’t make too much sense. Kids can have fun practicing their addition facts.

Grade Level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Description:

Snake is a fun and highly interactive math game for practicing basic math skills.

Goals:

Increase proficiency in basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

Objectives:

Students will use mental math to compute answers to arithmetic problems. Students will add columns of numbers to arrive at a total score.

Materials:

• pair of 6-sided dice (or for older grades use 10-, 12-, or 20-sided dice)
• calculator
• paper
• pencil

Procedure:

Each player writes the word "SNAKE" in large letters at the top of a piece of paper, making a column under each letter. All players stand up, and you roll the dice and announces the two numbers. Depending on the grade level or the ability of the students, you can have players add, subtract, multiply, or divide the two numbers. Each player does so quietly in their heads and then enter their answers in the first column "S." (You should record each answer on a piece of paper as well.) The players continue to record their answers in the "S" column until they choose to sit down and play it safe or until the round ends. When a player has chosen to sit down, he/she can no longer collect points and must wait until the next round to stand up and rejoin the game. A round (or column) ends when one of the following occurs:

1. All the players have chosen to sit down.
2. The facilitator has rolled a 1 on one of the dice. In this case, all players who are still standing will lose all their points for that column only. Their total for that column will go to 0.
3. The facilitator has rolled "snake eyes." In this case, all the players who are standing will lose all their points in each completed column and in the current column. Their score will now be 0.

Kids love this game, as long as you make it appropriate for their age level. I usually give out a little treat to students with the top three scores. The students really love the challenge of out-guessing the roll of the dice.

One difficulty of the game is trying to keep players from calling out the answers. If players are silent, then all children can practice their math facts in their heads. Also, when players have their scores, they tend to rush up front to show the teacher.

I made a rule of having players remain in their seats and raising their hands when ready to share scores. I would display a child's total score on the board and ask if anyone had a higher score. I would repeat this until I had the top two or three scores.

For many more addition games for children click the link below to go to main addition page.