Math “Investigations” Games
v Grab and Count- Students grab a handful of items, count them, and find a way to record what they grabbed using numbers, pictures, or words. ( skill: counting and representing quantities)
v Longer or Shorter?- Students compare the length of objects to a tower of ten cubes to see which are longer and shorter. (skill: counting and comparing lengths)
v Racing Bears- Partners take turns rolling a dice to move teddy bear counters along four tracks of ten. The goal is to land on and capture the penny or button on the tenth space. The game is over when the partners have collected all ten counters together. (skill: counting, counting on)
v One More, One Fewer- Students select a playing card ace-ten (1-10) and then roll a cube with +1/-1 to determine whether to add or subtract one from a number. They can work on a ten frame mat. (skill: finding the total after one is added or subtracted from a set of objects)
v Build It/Change It- The first player turns over a number card ace-ten (1-10) and places that number of pennies on a ten frame. The second player turns over another number card and changes the number of pennies on the ten frame to match the number on the new card. (skill: using counters to represent a quantity and then changing it to make another quantity by adding, subtracting, and comparing)
v Tile Arrangement (Inch Grid Paper) - Students work independently to find different ways to arrange sets of square color tiles. They record two arrangements for each number between 5 and 10. (skill: arranging a set of objects in different ways to discover that a quantity is a quantity no matter how it is arranged)
v Toss the Chips- The student is involved in separating a quantity into two parts. A total is established and the student tosses that many 2-color counters. The number of red and yellow counters facing up is recorded in the boxes. (skill: exploring combinations of a number)
v Pattern Block Puzzles (Combining Shapes) - The student will use paper pattern blocks to fill a pattern shape. Then, a chart will be filled in to record how many of each shape was used. (skill: combining shapes to make a picture, counting, and recording data)
v Roll and Record 3- The student will roll two dice and find the total. The number is recorded on the appropriate place on the chart. (i.e. 3+5=8, an 8 is recorded in the 8 column.) Continue to play until a number column is filled.
(skill: count and combine totals to 12, practice writing numbers 1-12)