Math Games for Grades K-3

Math Games for Grades K-3

Electronic handout for Dr. Aud's session at the ICTM conference February 15, 2007

The games you will find listed on this page are not new. They are traditional games, some invented hundreds of years ago, but they have been played continuously ever since for a reason-- they are fun and challenging to a wide range of players. The purpose of this session is to demonstrate how variations of traditional games support a developmentally appropriate math curriculum for children grade K-3, and to share ideas of how to best introduce and manage games in the classroom.

THIS WEB PAGE IS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS. BASED ON THE INTEREST IN THE SESSION I WILL CONTINUE TO RESEARCH AND ADD INFORMATION AND GAME RESOURCE LINKS. PLEASE VISIT AGAIN.

Why play "old-fashioned" games with young children, 5 - 8 years old?

•Because they involve social interaction.Young children, ages 5-8, are highly social and very interested in their peers. They want to talk to others and express themselves. They have learned to share through socio-dramatic play (pretending "house," playing "chase," building blocks, etc.) and they have the basic social skills needed to participate in games. Game play has the potential to promote cooperation, conflict resolution, and classroom community.

•Because they are developmentally appropriate. According to Piaget, children ages 6-7 are just entering the cognitive stage of play called "games with rules." That is, in their own play, they spontaneously make up rules and use symbols instead of real objects. They do this for fun, and find it challenging and stimulating to expand their repertoire of games.

Why use these games as a main part of the math curriculum?

•Because young children learn best through activity. Listening and sitting still are both difficult for young children; moving, talking, doing comes naturally. Furthermore, research has shown that the act of expressing their thoughts actually enhances children's ability to reason and understand concepts.

•Because children will learn at their own pace, and practice sufficiently to achieve mastery. Children are highly motivated to play; they will persist in play much longer than they will in adult-imposed tasks. They will choose games that give them the right balance of challenge and mastery, hence gaining skill and self-confidence simultaneously.

•Because games pose problems meaningful to children; solving those problems very often involves mathematic principles of logic, order, counting, or calculation. Teachers can enhance the likelihood of the problems being mathematical by planning which games to make available and by adding variations as children are ready for a new challenge.

Let's Play!

These games have been selected to meet the Illinois Learning Standards, primary grade level benchmarks, in five goals. Appropriate grade levels are listed after each game, but keep in mind that the children's interest and their level of mastery should be your ultimate guide to selection of any game.

Guessing Games

What's My Number? (K-1)

What's My Pattern? (K-1)

What's My Rule? (1-2) This game is very flexible pre-algebra. It can continue to grow and change with the children. Using numbers, the teacher writes a pair of numbers representing a function (+1, -3, doubled, x4, etc.) on the board, with an arrow between. Write the next number, but not the result of applying "the rule" and challenge the class: "Raise your hand if you think you know what number I should write next. Don't say my rule!" (smile) Continue until everyone "gets it"-- all hands are up-- then ask "What's my rule?" Allow children to invent rules, and to play this at the chalkboard or Smart board in their game time. Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral? (1-3) Based on the book by Tana Hoban, as well as the most popular adult first question in Twenty Questions. Show photos that reveal only part of a plant, animal, or object and have children guess its category. The difficulty of the photos should increase as children's skill increases. (Try Hoban's book-- or one of her many other photo books-- to get a feel for the kinds of images that are easy and harder.)

Twenty Questions (2) Use fewer questions for younger children. In first grade, after ten questions and ten guesses, the person with the secret person, place or thing will be ready to triumphantly reveal. One variation used by Kamii and Clark (1985): Each child brings a small object to school in a paper bag. Class plays "What's in My Bag?"with the bag bringer giving hints.

Hangman (2) The alphabet/spelling guessing game offers a study in probability related to the language of play (English, Spanish, etc.).

Guessing Games For Partners

That's Not My Button (K) Refers to a story about Toad's lost button in Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel. "It" chooses a button (while guesser hides eyes or turns back) then places it back in the pool. The guesser picks up a button. "It" says "That's not my button. That button is brown. My button is white." Each time the guesser selects a button, "It" contrasts the wrong button with the lost button.

Match My Grid (1-2) Described in Findell, et al. (2001), this game is a simplified version of Battleship, with more freedom for children to give different kinds of clues. Three to five different pattern blocks are selected. Both players have the same blocks. Behind a barrier, "It" arranges his/her blocks on a quadrant grid. Then "It" gives clues to the guesser to help him or her duplicate the same arrangement. Variation: Have the guesser ask the questions and "It" answer "yes" or "no."

"Finding Nemo" (3rd grade & up--excellent for gifted 2-3) [Battleship--instead of ships, use "clownfish" (3 squares), "blue tang" (3 squares), "octopus" (5 squares in a cross), "seahorse" (2 squares), and "shark"(5 squares long) ] OR choose a metaphor related to the theme that ties the game into your Social Studies or Science curriculum, or that is the children's current passion ("Cars" was mentioned at the session).

Circle Games These games are mainly useful for establishing a fun, cooperative atmosphere in the classroom and for modeling for the children how to support each other's active participation. However, each also challenges children to organize information and develop more flexible thinking. The first two activities are a type of set recognition. Zip Zap Boing establishes a spatial orientation on a real-life plane.

Categories (2-3) Party game with a regular beat: Slap slap (thighs) clap clap (hands) snap snap (fingers). All players keep the beat, and take turns, around the circle, speaking on the snaps (try for rhythmic speech--it helps with the beat). Player 1 says "Categories"; Player 2: "Such as . . ."; Player 3: names the category -- "Flowers"; Player 4: "Ro-ose"(keep the beat); Player 5: "Daisy"; Player 6: "Mari-gold." When stumped or bored, any person can change the category by starting the chant over without dropping the beat: "Categories . . ." The goal of the game is to keep going as long as possible without dropping the beat. (no elimination)

Bean Bag Story (2-3) Use a bean bag, Nerf ball, or small stuffed animal for tossing. Players choose whom to toss to, around or across the circle, in any order. Player 1 starts the story by naming the main character: "Once there was a . . ." then tosses to Player 2, who adds: "He/she/it went . . ." then tosses to Player 3, who adds: "Unfortunately . . ." (something bad, sad, or scary happens to the character) then tosses to Player 4: "Fortunately . . ." (the bad, sad, or scary thing is turned to good because of something else that happens). (Based on the picture book Fortunately by Remy Charlip) The story-game continues as players repeat "fortunately" and "unfortunately" as long as everyone is enjoying it, or until one player chooses an ending, like: "And that's how . . ." OR "And he/she/it stayed there and lived happily ever after."

Zip Zap Boing (1-3) A silly game of three verbal cues, with practice switching directions. If the game gets too easy, ask the children for ideas of another sound effect command.

Domino Games

See free, printable rules for 86 games (with young children, avoid bidding games based on Bridge, Poker, etc.) at the Puremco website.

Add 'em Up Fifty--(2-3)Play is like classic dominoes, but players keep a running total of their score and the first to 50 wins. Players score the number of spots on the open end of the domino tile they play each turn.

All Fives--(2-3) Players try to score by playing a domino with an open end that results in a sum with other open ends of a multiple of 5. Teach children a tally system unique to this game for recording their scores: each five is one tally mark, but arranged in an X. Make a big X for the first ten points earned; then fill in with four small Xs for the following forty points. Four sets of 5 X tallies (see link)= 200 points, or game.

Chickenfoot--(2-3) Play is similar to classic dominoes, but on each double there is a unique form of play called "chickentoes"-- three diagonally matched dominoes--that must be played before any other plays.

Classic Dominoes--(K-1) Players take turns matching the open ends of dominoes, starting with a spinner (see Glossary). When a player can't make a match, he or she draws from the bone yard until a match is drawn, which is then played. First player out of dominoes wins the round.

Twister-Dragon Dance--(K-1) Oriental game that is completely linear, but with rules for horizontal and vertical turns. Instead of winning, players check at the end to see which of seven dragon types they've created together.

Card Games

Free rules to these card games and more at the US Playing Cards website, Children's Games or at the House of Cards rules page.

"High Card/Low Card" (War) (K-1)

Crazy Eights and Uno (K-2)

Go Fish (K-1) and Quartet / Authors (1-2)

"I Doubt It" (Adults say "BS") (2)

"Take 4" (Double War) (1-2) This game was invented in Kamii and Clark's (1985) classroom to challenge children who were bored with war. Initially use 8 sets of cards ace-4 in traditional playing cards (2 decks), for a total of 32 cards. Players each get two stacks of cards. They turn up the top card of both stacks and add them together. The player with the highest total takes all 4 cards. In the case of a tie, proceed as for a "battle" in War. That is, leave tie cards face up; take the next card in each stack and place it face down, then turn up the following cards. The new highest total takes all 12 cards!! (very exciting for children)

Sevens (2-3)

Board Games

Sorry

Parcheesi

Snakes and Ladders

Homemade "race" type games with circular, linear, or divergent paths

Mancala - and here is a succinct summary of the basic rules.

Go-Bang

Solitaire - A fun version for children is "Hoppers."

Chinese Checkers

Tic Tac Toe

Nine Men's Morris

Dice Games

Shut the Box

Yahtzee - here are the rules, which could be played with any set of five conventional dice, and paper and pencil for scoring.

Street & Playground Games

Hopscotch - For the rules of play to many variations, get the book Hopscotch Around the World by Mary D. Lankford. This can be played inside, in a roomy corner of the classroom, using masking tape to mark off squares or blocks and form numbers.

Be prepared for conflict, and teach conflict resolution.

Minor disputes are normal and children should be given time to work through them without adult intervention. You'll hear occasional loud voices as children notice something "unfair."

Normal child comments: "Hey, you skipped me!" "It's MY turn." "That's MY space. You can't move there."

You'll know that children are developing mathematically and socially when the loud comments change: "Hey, you took 10 steps, but you rolled 9." "That's only 3, not 4." "No, he has more than you!" "Wait, you can't bump her. She's on a safe space."

Things to say when disputes arise:

If emotions are heated and it's early in the year: "I hear upset voices over here. J., you sound irritated, and N., you sound very annoyed. What seems to be the problem?" Restate the problem in positive or neutral terms. Follow the formal steps of conflict resolution OR say "Can you think of a new rule that will help you solve this problem?" Stay with them until they have a solution everyone agrees on.

If the children appeal to you (tattling, demanding a judgment) say: "I guess you need to make a new rule that everyone thinks is fair if you want the game to go on." (Spoken matter-of-factly, as a disinterested observer--NOT an implied threat to end the game by adult power!) Check back in a few minutes: "Did you solve your problem so that everyone is happy?" (Don't ask "How did you solve it?" because they may not remember, and it will interrupt play.)

If the dispute continues . . . "Would you like me to join you and help you negotiate a new rule?" Use the formal steps of conflict resolution. Once students are familiar with these steps and they are posted in the room, you can also ask, "Would you like one of your friends to join you and help you resolve your conflict?"

Bibliography

Everyday Math Resources website of the Center School District in Missouri Accessed 2/14/2007

Kamii, C. & DeVries, R. (1980). Group games in early education. Washington D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Kamii, C. with DeClark, G. (1985) Young children reinvent arithmetic. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

Kamii, C. with Joseph, L. (1989) Young children continue to reinvent arithmetic. New York: Teacher’s College Press.