whole class maths problem solving activities

• Skip to main content
• Skip to footer

Miss Glitter Teaches

Bringing a dash of sparkle to tired teachers

in Math · December 13, 2022

5 Easy Whole Group Math Game Ideas

It’s no secret that I love playing math games in my classroom. Any time I can make something a game, there is instant buy-in from my students. Even my most challenging classes like to play a whole group math game and usually, those are some of my best classroom management days. Who knew that playing games would actually make my class easier to manage?!

Usually, I use math games as a math station rotation where students play math games for 2 players. If you want to learn more about how to start math stations in your upper elementary classroom, be sure to check out my 5 Part Video Series where I teach all the nitty gritty details of starting math station rotations. In under a week, you can have your own math groups up and running! 

Sounds like a dream? Drop your email below and I’ll send you my FREE video series to your inbox.

Learn with Math Games

Can you really learn with math games? Yes, you totally can!

I’ve never met a student that didn’t like games. I have met a bunch of students who (sadly) don’t like math. But the real magic is when you combine the two.

Math games are engaging for students to play while also working on key math skills. By using engagement and competition, students can learn with math games.

Now, not all games are created equal. Some whole group math game ideas are focused on just 1 or 2 students doing math at a time. Other math games focus on multiple students doing math at the same time. There is a time and place for both types of whole group math games. I’m sharing both types below so keep scrolling.

If you are looking for more math games for 2 players, I have a blog post linked here where I share all about how to make math games that are fun. These games are great for math stations or having all students pair up and play a game all at the same time.

Whole Group Math Game Ideas

When looking for whole group math game ideas, I try to keep in mind things that are engaging, competitive, and can be used with lots of different math topics. I also try to find games that have students up and moving. And of course, I’m all about low prep for me so these games have to be able to be played easily and without a lot of prep work. Now that I’ve set the group work, let’s get to the whole group math game ideas!

Around the World

An oldie but goodie whole group math game that my students love. I have used this game with math facts but also task cards for more challenging math topics. Have students stand in a circle with 1 student behind another. Then show a flashcard. Students solve and the first person correct wins the round. They then move on to the next student in the circle and stand behind them. This continues until a student makes it all the way around the circle.

Math Games 3rd Graders: Skip Count

I like to play this game with any grade that knows about skip counting. Sit in a circle and have students take turns skip counting by whatever number you decide. I have made this into a time competition over a few weeks to see if we can beat our time. Another way to play would be passing a ball across the circle and trying to keep the skip counting going. A fun, low-prep math games 3rd graders love!

Jeopardy 

This one is slightly more work but so much fun! I use free sets of task cards to create my jeopardy board. Simply tape the cards to the whiteboard in a grid and give each column a topic title. Split the class into a few groups and play jeopardy. This whole group math game is a great way to review before a unit test or even state testing in the spring.

Whole Group Math Game: Back to Back

This game is similar to those around the world but instead, students are facing off on the whiteboard. Students stand back to back. I project a math problem on the screen and then students solve the problem. The first person to solve it correctly wins the round. The team with the most points by the end of class time wins.

This game is another easy way to use task cards. Looking for other ways how to use task cards? This blog post has even more ideas for upper elementary or middle school students.

Ghosts in the Graveyard

This game is a blast and can be used with any worksheet. I usually use a study guide for this whole group math game. Split the room into 2 teams and give each team a color. Students then pair up with a student on their team. They work to solve a problem and then I come around and check it. If it’s correct, I give students a ghost for their team’s color. Students then tape their ghosts on a headstone. The process repeats until I say stop (usually about 15 minutes). I then tally up the points: each headrest is worth a different point value that I know about but the students don’t know. I use 3 headstones, 1 worth 100 points, 1 worth 50, and 1 worth 0 🙂 Because students don’t know the point values of the headstones, it offers a bit of a challenge on where to put their ghosts.

Don’t want to use ghosts? Post-it notes work just fine!

Math Games for Large Groups

When should you play math games for large groups? I love to use these game ideas for just about anything! Reviewing before a unit test is always a given strategy and is way more fun than a simple study guide.

Another idea is to use a whole group math game to review before a holiday break. Especially when the week is cut short and you know students will be absent, a math game is a perfect idea. Since so many of these whole group math game ideas are low prep, they also make great plans for a snowy day.

One other way to use math games is to review before state testing. I know that preparing for standardized tests can be boring but a whole group math game could be just the thing to up the engagement. If you are looking for what test-taking strategies elementary students need, be sure to check out this blog post . I round up a bunch of different strategies to help set students up for success!

More whole group math game ideas

Looking for more whole group math game ideas? These blog posts have so many ideas that are great for any age!

• 16 Classroom Math Games for Learning and Fun
• 3 Math Games You Can Use in Class Today
• 20 Marvelous Math Games for 5th Graders
• 10 Fun 5th Grade math Games to Help You Learn
• Classroom Math Games for Memorable Fun

I’d love to know your favorite whole group math game! Drop your game ideas in the comments below!

Reader Interactions

[…] I’ve played a whole-group math game with multiplication facts to help with repetition too. I share more about the games I play in this blog post if you want to check it out. […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest on Instagram

Have Questions?

Please let me know !

Privacy Policy

Miss Glitter

on Teachers Pay Teachers

• Organization
• Tips & Tricks

• Skip to main content

Join All-Access Reading…Doors Are Open! Click Here

• All-Access Login
• Freebie Library
• Search this website

Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Whole Group Instruction and Activities for Math

Over my near decade of teaching fifth grade, I have found that whole group instruction is still very much needed. The skills and meaty concepts that the fifth graders have to master makes it virtually impossible to cover in a mini-lesson or even in small group math. My students (and me and my pacing guide) still really need that whole group instruction time.

With that being said, whole group instruction can take so.many.different.formats. It is not just the teacher teaching and the students listening and copying. It is so much more than that. On this post, I want to break down what whole group instruction and activities looks like in my classroom.

Whole Group Instruction: The Lesson

My whole group lesson length varies depending on the skills we are practicing or I am introducing. However, the format almost always stays the same.

1.) Introduce the skill through a word problem or context (this helps build conceptual understanding).

2.) Lots of student discussion and exploration while I guide the discussion around the skill/word problem/context. This is key. Students need to regularly talk about math AND hear math from their peers – and not just those peers in their small math group. My students who struggle need to hear from my students who have mastered concepts and vice versa. Some of my “struggling” (eh – I hate that term) students have the biggest a-ha moments during whole group instruction that all of my students can benefit from hearing.

3.) Guided practice of the skill.

4.) Exit slip to informally assess the students’ current mastery levels ( click here to see 4th grade math exit slips and here to see 5th grade math exit slips ).

To read more about how I use exit slips to drive my instruction (and grab a data analysis binder freebie), click here.

After this, we move into the independent or not-so-independent activities and practices.

Whole Group Instruction: “Independent” Activities and Practice

Our whole group practice and activities vary from day to day, skill to skill. It does not always look like this: students working while teacher teaches a small group or checks in with individual students. But, sometimes it does look like that. In a minute, we will dive into some of my favorite activities and ways to practice that we do on whole group instruction days, but first, here are the factors that guide what we do each day:

2.) The students’ current mastery level with the skill based on the exit slips or my observations

3.) What I have prepared ahead of time

Now, let’s dive into all the different types of activities you can use to make the most of this time + keep your students engaged and working hard (in no particular order).

1. Independent Practice with Small Group Instruction

After giving the exit slip, I can pull my small groups based on it. While I am pulling small groups, my students can be working independently on the same task or a similar task.

Click here to read more about how I pull small groups during whole group math days.

For independent practice, I use the following resources (not all of these each day):

• Interactive notebook resources that are heavily student-driven and allow for multiple opportunities to practice a skill
• Word problems for interactive math notebooks are also a go-to resource, and I often use these for the guided practice aspect of the lesson, too.
• Practice printables from my fifth grade math supplemental resources.
• Leveled math skill sheets that allow me to quickly differentiate independent practice.

2. Guided Math Manipulative Practice

This is one of my favorites and is often just an extension of the whole group lesson. We do this a lot with decimals and fractions skills. This type of practice follows this basic format:

• Present a task or an equation to the students.
• Discuss how the manipulatives can help us solve the task or equation.
• The students use the manipulatives to solve the task or equation.
• The students discuss with partners how they used the manipulatives and/or justify their answer using the manipulatives.
• Discuss as a class and record a visual representation of what the students did with the manipulatives (or an abstract representation).
• Repeat steps 1-5 with a new task or equation.

Click here to read a detailed blog post about my favorite math manipulatives for 5th grade.

3. Guided “Independent” Practice

Sometimes, I find that my students are not ready to really be let loose with independent practice, but continuing guided practice is not the answer either. Enter: Guided “Independent” Practice.

Our Guided “Independent” Practice follows this basic format (similar to the one for the guided manipulative practice):

• Present a task or problem to the students.
• Discuss the task or equation (mainly to ensure the students have an access point).
• Students solve the problem and check/discuss with an assigned partner.
• Discuss as a class, recording work for the students to see if necessary.
• Repeat steps 1-4 with a new problem or task.

4. Partner Math Games

Easily one of my students’ favorite activities to complete after whole group lesson is partner math games. We play the same five partner games throughout the year (see below picture), changing out the content and math skills as needed. My students love them, and I love that they can quickly grab their game and get to playing and practicing math.

Click here to read a more detailed post about my go-to partner math games AND grab 30+ free ones!

To see the grade level sets of partner games in my store, click on your grade level below:

4th Grade Math Partner Games BUNDLE

5th Grade Math Partner Games BUNDLE

5. Scoot Math Review

We pretty much love SCOOT in my classroom. Sometimes, something simple like putting questions on task cards and letting the students walk from desk to desk is really just what you need. I have found that those same students who struggle to get 5-6 questions done independently can knock some problems out with SCOOT.

Click here to read more about SCOOT and how I use it to informally assess my students.

Do you need math task cards that cover all of the CCSS standards? Click on your grade level to check them out.

3rd Grade Math Task Cards

4th Grade Math Task Cards

5th Grade Math Task Cards

6. Around the Room Review

This is one of my go-to math activities before an assessment, but it works well at any point in instruction. Basically, I tape problems around the room, group the students into small groups, and have them rotate at my signal solving the problems on their own paper. We do a final rotation, if time allows, where one group is assigned a problem to solve on the chart. Read more about this math activity here.

Another twist on the Around the Room activity that we love is having the students rotate through different levels of understanding for a math skill. This works the same as the above activity, except the tasks all require a different level of understanding. The levels are:

• Define It: a list of 2-5 terms are listed for the students to define
• Practice It: requires the students to apply their knowledge to answer 2-6 practice problems
• Create It: this task is a bit more complicated, and the students have to apply their knowledge to create a task, a number, a word problem, etc. based on the standard
• Explain It: requires the most thinking and requires the students to explain their thinking or explain some aspect of the math skill

Click here to see a complete resource with those specific tasks for each 5th grade math standard.

7. Collaborative Group Activities

And finally, we also complete collaborative group activities. This may include:

• Creating a collaborative poster
• Completing a math project
• Creating lessons to teach the rest of the class

What do you do during math center days?

My students complete math centers 2-3 times a week. Click here to read a detailed post about my math center instruction.

Which of these activities do you do in your classroom? Do you have any other activities that work well during whole group instruction days? Let me know in the comments!

Share the Knowledge!

Reader interactions.

July 17, 2018 at 10:04 am

Thank you for this info! It sounds like you take a hybrid approach to whole group vs. math centers. I’m wondering – How do you decide which lesson require centers and which would be better suited for whole group instruction?

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

You may also love these freebies!

Math Posters

Reading Posters

Morphology Posters

Grammar Posters

Welcome Friends!

I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students.

High Impact Tutoring Built By Math Experts

Personalized standards-aligned one-on-one math tutoring for schools and districts

Free ready-to-use math resources

Hundreds of free math resources created by experienced math teachers to save time, build engagement and accelerate growth

20 Effective Math Strategies To Approach Problem-Solving 

Katie Keeton

Math strategies for problem-solving help students use a range of approaches to solve many different types of problems. It involves identifying the problem and carrying out a plan of action to find the answer to mathematical problems.  

Problem-solving skills are essential to math in the general classroom and real-life. They require logical reasoning and critical thinking skills. Students must be equipped with strategies to help them find solutions to problems.

This article explores mathematical problem solving strategies, logical reasoning and critical thinking skills to help learners with solving math word problems independently in real-life situations. 

What are problem-solving strategies?

Problem-solving strategies in math are methods students can use to figure out solutions to math problems. Some problem-solving strategies: 

• Draw a model
• Use different approaches
• Check the inverse to make sure the answer is correct

Students need to have a toolkit of math problem-solving strategies at their disposal to provide different ways to approach math problems. This makes it easier to find solutions and understand math better. 

Strategies can help guide students to the solution when it is difficult ot know when to start.

The ultimate guide to problem solving techniques

Download these ready-to-go problem solving techniques that every student should know. Includes printable tasks for students including challenges, short explanations for teachers with questioning prompts.

20 Math Strategies For Problem-Solving

Different problem-solving math strategies are required for different parts of the problem. It is unlikely that students will use the same strategy to understand and solve the problem. 

Here are 20 strategies to help students develop their problem-solving skills. 

Strategies to understand the problem

Strategies that help students understand the problem before solving it helps ensure they understand: 

• The context
• What the key information is
• How to form a plan to solve it

Following these steps leads students to the correct solution and makes the math word problem easier .

Here are five strategies to help students understand the content of the problem and identify key information. 

1. Read the problem aloud

Read a word problem aloud to help understand it. Hearing the words engages auditory processing. This can make it easier to process and comprehend the context of the situation.

2. Highlight keywords 

When keywords are highlighted in a word problem, it helps the student focus on the essential information needed to solve it. Some important keywords help determine which operation is needed.  For example, if the word problem asks how many are left, the problem likely requires subtraction.  Ensure students highlight the keywords carefully and do not highlight every number or keyword. There is likely irrelevant information in the word problem.

3. Summarize the information

Read the problem aloud, highlight the key information and then summarize the information. Students can do this in their heads or write down a quick summary.  Summaries should include only the important information and be in simple terms that help contextualize the problem.

4. Determine the unknown

A common problem that students have when solving a word problem is misunderstanding what they are solving. Determine what the unknown information is before finding the answer.  Often, a word problem contains a question where you can find the unknown information you need to solve. For example, in the question ‘How many apples are left?’ students need to find the number of apples left over.

5. Make a plan

Once students understand the context of the word problem, have dentified the important information and determined the unknown, they can make a plan to solve it.  The plan will depend on the type of problem. Some problems involve more than one step to solve them as some require more than one answer.  Encourage students to make a list of each step they need to take to solve the problem before getting started.

Strategies for solving the problem 

1. draw a model or diagram.

Students may find it useful to draw a model, picture, diagram, or other visual aid to help with the problem solving process.  It can help to visualize the problem to understand the relationships between the numbers in the problem. In turn, this helps students see the solution.

Similarly, you could draw a model to represent the objects in the problem:

2. Act it out

This particular strategy is applicable at any grade level but is especially helpful in math investigation in elementary school . It involves a physical demonstration or students acting out the problem using movements, concrete resources and math manipulatives .  When students act out a problem, they can visualize and contectualize the word problem in another way and secure an understanding of the math concepts.  The examples below show how 1st-grade students could “act out” an addition and subtraction problem:

3. Work backwards

Working backwards is a popular problem-solving strategy. It involves starting with a possible solution and deciding what steps to take to arrive at that solution.  This strategy can be particularly helpful when students solve math word problems involving multiple steps. They can start at the end and think carefully about each step taken as opposed to jumping to the end of the problem and missing steps in between.

For example,

To solve this problem working backwards, start with the final condition, which is Sam’s grandmother’s age (71) and work backwards to find Sam’s age. Subtract 20 from the grandmother’s age, which is 71.  Then, divide the result by 3 to get Sam’s age. 71 – 20 = 51 51 ÷ 3 = 17 Sam is 17 years old.

4. Write a number sentence

When faced with a word problem, encourage students to write a number sentence based on the information. This helps translate the information in the word problem into a math equation or expression, which is more easily solved.  It is important to fully understand the context of the word problem and what students need to solve before writing an equation to represent it.

5. Use a formula

Specific formulas help solve many math problems. For example, if a problem asks students to find the area of a rug, they would use the area formula (area = length × width) to solve.   Make sure students know the important mathematical formulas they will need in tests and real-life. It can help to display these around the classroom or, for those who need more support, on students’ desks.

Strategies for checking the solution 

Once the problem is solved using an appropriate strategy, it is equally important to check the solution to ensure it is correct and makes sense. 

There are many strategies to check the solution. The strategy for a specific problem is dependent on the problem type and math content involved.

Here are five strategies to help students check their solutions. 

1. Use the Inverse Operation

For simpler problems, a quick and easy problem solving strategy is to use the inverse operation. For example, if the operation to solve a word problem is 56 ÷ 8 = 7 students can check the answer is correct by multiplying 8 × 7. As good practice, encourage students to use the inverse operation routinely to check their work. 

2. Estimate to check for reasonableness

Once students reach an answer, they can use estimation or rounding to see if the answer is reasonable.  Round each number in the equation to a number that’s close and easy to work with, usually a multiple of ten.  For example, if the question was 216 ÷ 18 and the quotient was 12, students might round 216 to 200 and round 18 to 20. Then use mental math to solve 200 ÷ 20, which is 10.  When the estimate is clear the two numbers are close. This means your answer is reasonable. 

3. Plug-In Method

This method is particularly useful for algebraic equations. Specifically when working with variables.  To use the plug-in method, students solve the problem as asked and arrive at an answer. They can then plug the answer into the original equation to see if it works. If it does, the answer is correct.

If students use the equation 20m+80=300 to solve this problem and find that m = 11, they can plug that value back into the equation to see if it is correct. 20m + 80 = 300 20 (11) + 80 = 300 220 + 80 = 300 300 = 300 ✓

4. Peer Review

Peer review is a great tool to use at any grade level as it promotes critical thinking and collaboration between students. The reviewers can look at the problem from a different view as they check to see if the problem was solved correctly.   Problem solvers receive immediate feedback and the opportunity to discuss their thinking with their peers. This strategy is effective with mixed-ability partners or similar-ability partners. In mixed-ability groups, the partner with stronger skills provides guidance and support to the partner with weaker skills, while reinforcing their own understanding of the content and communication skills.  If partners have comparable ability levels and problem-solving skills, they may find that they approach problems differently or have unique insights to offer each other about the problem-solving process.

5. Use a Calculator

A calculator can be introduced at any grade level but may be best for older students who already have a foundational understanding of basic math operations. Provide students with a calculator to allow them to check their solutions independently, accurately, and quickly. Since calculators are so readily available on smartphones and tablets, they allow students to develop practical skills that apply to real-world situations.  

Step-by-step problem-solving processes for your classroom

In his book, How to Solve It , published in 1945, mathematician George Polya introduced a 4-step process to solve problems. 

Polya’s 4 steps include:

• Understand the problem
• Devise a plan
• Carry out the plan

Today, in the style of George Polya, many problem-solving strategies use various acronyms and steps to help students recall. 

Many teachers create posters and anchor charts of their chosen process to display in their classrooms. They can be implemented in any elementary, middle school or high school classroom. 

Here are 5 problem-solving strategies to introduce to students and use in the classroom.

How Third Space Learning improves problem-solving 

Resources .

Third Space Learning offers a free resource library is filled with hundreds of high-quality resources. A team of experienced math experts carefully created each resource to develop students mental arithmetic, problem solving and critical thinking. 

Explore the range of problem solving resources for 2nd to 8th grade students. 

One-on-one tutoring 

Third Space Learning offers one-on-one math tutoring to help students improve their math skills. Highly qualified tutors deliver high-quality lessons aligned to state standards. 

Former teachers and math experts write all of Third Space Learning’s tutoring lessons. Expertly designed lessons follow a “my turn, follow me, your turn” pedagogy to help students move from guided instruction and problem-solving to independent practice. 

Throughout each lesson, tutors ask higher-level thinking questions to promote critical thinking and ensure students are developing a deep understanding of the content and problem-solving skills.

Problem-solving

Educators can use many different strategies to teach problem-solving and help students develop and carry out a plan when solving math problems. Incorporate these math strategies into any math program and use them with a variety of math concepts, from whole numbers and fractions to algebra. 

Teaching students how to choose and implement problem-solving strategies helps them develop mathematical reasoning skills and critical thinking they can apply to real-life problem-solving.

READ MORE : 8 Common Core math examples

There are many different strategies for problem-solving; Here are 5 problem-solving strategies: • draw a model  • act it out  • work backwards  • write a number sentence • use a formula

Here are 10 strategies of problem-solving: • Read the problem aloud • Highlight keywords • Summarize the information • Determine the unknown • Make a plan • Draw a model  • Act it out  • Work backwards  • Write a number sentence • Use a formula

1. Understand the problem 2. Devise a plan 3. Carry out the plan 4. Look back

Some strategies you can use to solve challenging math problems are: breaking the problem into smaller parts, using diagrams or models, applying logical reasoning, and trying different approaches.

Related articles

Why Student Centered Learning Is Important: A Guide For Educators

13 Effective Learning Strategies: A Guide to Using them in your Math Classroom

Differentiated Instruction: 9 Differentiated Curriculum And Instruction Strategies For Teachers 

5 Math Mastery Strategies To Incorporate Into Your 4th and 5th Grade Classrooms

Ultimate Guide to Metacognition [FREE]

Looking for a summary on metacognition in relation to math teaching and learning?

Check out this guide featuring practical examples, tips and strategies to successfully embed metacognition across your school to accelerate math growth.

Privacy Overview

• Math for Kids
• Parenting Resources
• ELA for Kids
• Teaching Resources

How to Teach Long Division to Kids in 6 Easy Steps

15 Famous Mathematicians in History That Kids Should Know

11 Best Multiplication Apps for Kids

How to Teach Number Formation in 5 Easy Steps

13 Best Resources for Math Videos for Kids: Math Made Fun

6 Best Alternatives to Public Schooling: A Guide for Parents

How to Cope With Test Anxiety in 12 Easy Ways

Developmental Milestones for 4 Year Olds: The Ultimate Guide

Simple & Stress-Free After School Schedule for Kids of All Ages

When Do Kids Start Preschool: Age & Readiness Skills

How to Teach Letter Recognition in 6 Easy Steps

20 Fun Limericks for Kids

How to Improve Reading Comprehension: Strategies & Tips

40 Best Summer Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages

12 Best Ways to Teach Rhyming Words to Kids

12 Best Tips for Substitute Teachers

30 Best Classroom Reward Ideas for Elementary Students

12 Best Websites for English Teachers

10 Best Game-Based Learning Platforms for Kids

60 Fun Animal Facts for Kids

21 Best Classroom Math Games: Boost Your Students’ Math Skills

1. SplashLearn

2. round robin benefit, 3. fraction action, 4. around the block, 5. 101 and out, 6. the counting game, 7. odds and evens, 8. twenty-one, 9. sequence benefit.

Teachers are always looking for new and innovative ways to help kids learn math . Keeping things exciting and engaging can be challenging, especially when teaching complex concepts like multiplication and division . But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Here are 21 of the best classroom math games for kids.

SplashLearn: Most Comprehensive Learning Program for PreK-5

SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

These games are not only super fun to play but will also help students learn and practice essential math skills. So without further ado, let’s get started!

21 Fun Math Games to Play in the Classroom

Grade: PreK – 5

SplashLearn makes math interactive and fun, perfect for kids and is completely free for teachers. It turns lessons into engaging games , transforming learning into an adventure. Tailored to reinforce lessons, the games directly link to what students are learning, whether geometry for second graders or fractions for fifth graders . SplashLearn adapts to each child’s pace, keeping them interested and on track.

• With access to a dashboard, teachers get quick insights into student progress, easily spotting and addressing learning gaps . 
• SplashLearn tailors personalized learning journeys for each student, adjusting their pace and skill level for a truly customized math learning experience.

Here are some fun math games that you can get started with:

Grades: 3–5

This math game can be played with a large group of students. It is an excellent way to review material that has already been taught.

How to play:

One student starts by saying any math fact they know (for example, 2 + 2 = 4). The student next to them then says another math fact. This continues around the circle until the first person can’t think of a fact, at which point they are out. The last person standing is the winner!

This is one of the most effective math games for classroom participation! Not only does it help them understand fractions , but they also get to move around and have fun while doing it. The game’s objective is to be the first person to collect all the fraction cards. 

Players must answer questions correctly about fractions and collect fraction cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner!

If you’re looking for easier and more fun ways to engage your students and simplify teaching fractions, play these fun online fraction games for free:

Grade: 3– 5

You only need one ball for this game, but you can have multiple students playing simultaneously. 

Students will stand in a circle, and someone will start by rolling the ball to another student in the circle. The student who catches the ball must then identify which math operation they will use to solve the problem posed by the person who rolled the ball.

The answer should be called out, and the student will roll the ball to another player. If the answer is correct, the player gets to keep rolling the ball. If the answer is incorrect, that player is out of the game. Continue until there’s only one person left standing.

Give your students some paper and pencils. This game can be played by two players (or the entire class can also be divided into two teams). Draw a line right down the middle of a piece of paper. On the left side, player 1 will record their score, and on the right, player 2 will add their score.

Both the players take turns rolling a die. Whatever number they roll, they can decide whether they want it to remain a one- digit number or whether they want to bump it up to a tens place. For example, if they roll a 4, they can write 4 on their side of the page or write 40. The goal is to be the first person to reach 101.

This fun classroom math game reinforces counting skills within 20, using counting worksheets . Each player needs a die and counting within 20 worksheets.

Students take turns rolling the die. After rolling, they must count out and circle the number of items on their worksheet corresponding to the number they rolled. For example, if a student rolls a four, they should find a group of four items on their worksheet and circle it. The game continues until all items on the worksheet are circled. The aim is to practice counting in an engaging way rather than competing to finish first.

Begin with printing this counting within 20 worksheet:

Odds and Evens is a classic math game that you can play with any number of players. You only need a piece of paper and a pencil for each player. 

Each player draws a line down the middle of their paper to create two columns. The left-hand column is for odds, and the right-hand column is for evens.

Players take turns rolling a die. Whatever number they roll, they must put that many dots in the corresponding column. The first player to reach 10 points in either column wins the game!

Looking for a hands-on way to explain odd and even numbers ? See how these games can make it click for your students:

This classroom math game is played with a regular deck of cards. All you need to do is remove the face cards and aces, then shuffle the deck. 

Each student will need a whiteboard and marker. Deal out two cards to each player face down. One at a time, each student will turn over their top card and reveal the number to the class.

The goal is to get as close to the number “21” as possible without going over. Players can either choose to stop and keep their current score, or they can risk going over 21 by adding the value of their next card.

If a player goes over 21, they are out for that round. The last player standing is the winner.

Variation: You can also play this game with three cards instead of two.

This classroom math game leverages number sequence worksheets to give students a hands-on approach to understanding numerical order. How to play:

Prepare by printing a set of number sequence worksheets, each highlighting a different sequence challenge that progresses in difficulty or varies in pattern (e.g., counting by twos, fives, or backwards). Distribute one scrambled sequence set to each student in the classroom.

The game’s goal is for students to arrange their strips in the correct numerical order, reconstructing the sequence on their desks. Once they believe they have correctly ordered their sequence, they should signal for you to check. After verifying the sequences, engage the class in a discussion about their strategies to determine the correct order and the patterns they observed.

Begin with printing these number sequence worksheets:

Grade: Kindergarten and above

This math game is played with a group of at least four people. 

Players sit in a circle and take turns counting up from 1. However, whenever the number 7 or a multiple of 7 is said, the player whose turn it is must say “buzz”.

If a player forgets to say “buzz” or says the wrong number, they are out! The game continues until there is only one player remaining.

11. One-Yard Dash

This math classroom game for kids is a great way to review basic math skills with your students. The objective of the game is to be the first person to reach one yard. 

Students should be divided into small teams and given measuring tapes to play.

Then they search the space for two to four items that, when added together, measure one yard in length. The groups will then measure the objects and note how accurate their estimates are.

Need a greater challenge? Instead of using a yard, give them a centimeter and instruct them to convert the results to micrometers, millimeters , and other units.

12. Create a Long Number Line on the Ground

This is a great activity for teaching addition , subtraction , and place value . You will need chalk to make your number line . 

Start by writing the numbers 1–20 (or higher) on the ground. Create a starting point and an ending point with two different colors. Then have students stand at the starting point. Call out a math problem and have students solve it and move to the correct answer on the number line. For example, “If I start at seven and subtract 3, where will I end up?” From the starting point (7), students would move three spaces to the left and land on 4.

This game can also be played with a partner. Students stand on opposite ends of the number line. One player calls out a math problem, and the other player solves it and then moves to the correct answer. The first team to reach the endpoint is the winner!

13. Graph Scavenger Hunt

To make graphs more exciting for your students, try a graph scavenger hunt! 

You will need to create a graph with different items to be found around the classroom or school (pictures work great for this). For example, you could use a bar graph and have students find things that are red, blue, green, etc. Or you could use a picture graph and have students find things that are small, big, have four legs, etc.

Once the graph is created, students will walk around and find things that match the items on the graph. They will then color in or mark the graph to show what they found. When they are finished, they can share their findings with the class.

14. Whack-a-Ball and Subtract

This is a variation of the classic game “Whack-a-Mole.” You will need a whiteboard, a whiteboard marker, and a softball or other small ball. To set up the game, draw a grid on the whiteboard with ten columns and ten rows. Label each column with a number from 1 to 10. In the first row of each column, write the corresponding number minus 1. So, in the first column, write “1 – 1”; in the second column, write “2 – 1”; and so on.

One student throws the ball at the board while another student calls out a number from 1 to 10. The student who threw the ball then tried to hit the number that was called out. If they hit the number, they erase it and write the new number in its place (the number minus 1). If they miss, the other student gets the point. The game is over when all the numbers are erased from the board.

15. Number Dance

Grade: PreK-Grade 1

This is a fun way to get your students moving and practice their numbers! To set up the game, you will need some space and some music. Make a number mat by taping numbers from 1–20 on the floor (you can also write them on a piece of paper or use numbered flashcards).

Once the mat is set up, have your students stand on a number. When the music starts, they should start dancing around! Every time the music stops, they must find a new number to stand on.

You can make the game more challenging by adding some movement rules, such as “hop on one foot when the number is even, spin around when the number is a multiple of five,” etc.

16. Balloon Pop

This is one of the best fun math games to play in the classroom for practicing number recognition and one-to-one correspondence. You will need some balloons (blow them up ahead of time) and a Sharpie. Write a different number on each balloon using the Sharpie, then mix them up. 

Students will take turns picking a balloon and popping it. They will then count the number of pops it took to pop the balloon and say the number out loud. The student with the most popped balloons at the end of the game wins!

17. Spill the Beans

This is a great game for practicing addition and subtraction. The objective of the game is to collect as many beans as possible without spilling them. 

You will need a container filled with beans, a spoon, and a cup. Each player will take turns scooping up beans with the spoon and transferring them to the cup. If, at any point, the beans spill, that player will lose all of their beans. The player with the most beans at the end of the game wins!

18. Math Bingo!

Grade: Grade 2 and above

This classic game can be used to practice any number of skills, including number recognition, counting, and addition. The objective of the game is to be the first player to get five numbers in a row (up, down, across, or diagonally). 

You will need a bingo card for each player (you can find printable bingo cards online or make your own). The caller will then draw numbers one at a time and call them out. Players will mark the numbers off on their cards if they have them. The first player to get five in a row wins!

19. Hit the Target

Grade: Grade 2-7

Math games are not only a way to pass the time, they’re also educational. This game is perfect for practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 

All you need is a whiteboard and a dry-erase marker. Write a math problem on the board, and then have students try to hit the target (the answer) with their markers. The person who gets closest to the target wins the round.

20. EDM (Educational Dance Music)

This game is perfect for getting kids up and moving while they learn math. 

Choose a song with a high BPM (beats per minute), and then have students count out the beats as they dance. For example, if the song had 120 BPM, students would count “1-2-3-4” as they danced. This game can be adapted to any math concept, such as skip counting or finding fractions of a whole.

21. The Number Detective Game

This is a great game for helping kids practice their addition, subtraction, and multiplication skills. You will need a whiteboard, marker, and eraser. 

Write a number on the board and then challenge your students to solve various math problems using that number. For instance, you might write “78” and then ask students to find all the numbers that add up to 78.

You can also have students solve for two numbers at once to make things more challenging. For example, if you write “78” and “15,” students would then need to find all the numbers that add up to 78 and all the numbers that multiply to 15.

Let’s Play with Numbers!

So there you have it, 21 best classroom math games for kids that are not only super fun to play but also educational. These games are perfect for reinforcing math concepts and skills. So get out there and make your classroom a fun and interactive learning environment!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best way to use math games in the classroom.

Fun math classroom games are a great way to engage students and get them excited about learning. To get the most out of these games, it is important to use them to supplement your regular lesson plans . Use classroom math games as a way to review concepts that have already been taught or as a way to introduce new concepts.

What is the impact of playing classroom math games?

Classroom math games offer a number of benefits for students, including

• improved problem-solving skills
• increased confidence in math
• a better understanding of math concepts
• greater interest in math

Where can I find more math games for my students?

There are a number of ways to find more math games for your students. SplashLearn offers a comprehensive math learning program for grades PreK–5, with over 4,000 interactive games.

How are math games used effectively in the classroom?

Here are a few tips to incorporate math games in the classroom:

• Set aside time each week for students to play math games.
• Integrate math games into your regular lesson plans .
• Encourage students to play at home as well.
• Choose games that are appropriate for your student’s skill level.
• Monitor students’ progress and adjust accordingly.

• Pre-Kindergarten
• Kindergarten

Most Popular

15 Best Report Card Comments Samples

117 Best Riddles for Kids (With Answers)

40 Best Good Vibes Quotes to Brighten Your Day

Recent posts.

15 Best Fourth of July Crafts for Preschoolers

Math & ELA | PreK To Grade 5

Kids see fun., you see real learning outcomes..

Watch your kids fall in love with math & reading through our scientifically designed curriculum.

Parents, try for free Teachers, use for free

About SplashLearn

Enter the Splashverse! Inspire lifelong curiosity with this game-based PreK-5 learning experience loved by over 40 million children. SplashLearn is the perfect balance of learning and game-play that your little one needs to build math and reading confidence.

• Games for Kids
• Worksheets for Kids
• Math Worksheets
• ELA Worksheets
• Math Vocabulary
• Number Games
• Addition Games
• Subtraction Games
• Multiplication Games
• Division Games
• Addition Worksheets
• Subtraction Worksheets
• Multiplication Worksheets
• Division Worksheets
• Times Tables Worksheets
• Reading Games
• Writing Games
• Phonics Games
• Sight Words Games
• Letter Tracing Games
• Reading Worksheets
• Writing Worksheets
• Phonics Worksheets
• Sight Words Worksheets
• Letter Tracing Worksheets
• Prime Number
• Order of Operations
• Long multiplication
• Place value
• Parallelogram
• SplashLearn Success Stories
• SplashLearn Apps
• [email protected]

© Copyright - SplashLearn

Make study-time fun with 14,000+ games & activities, 450+ lesson plans, and more—free forever.

Parents, Try for Free Teachers, Use for Free

• Prodigy Math
• Prodigy English
• Is a Premium Membership Worth It?
• Promote a Growth Mindset
• Help Your Child Who's Struggling with Math
• Parent's Guide to Prodigy
• Assessments
• Math Curriculum Coverage
• English Curriculum Coverage
• Administrators
• Game Portal

22 Fun Math Activities for Your Classroom

Written by Marcus Guido

Did you know? 🤔

Research showed that Prodigy Math helped drive a significant, positive shift in students' opinion towards math in just a few months.

• Game-Based Learning
• Teaching Tools
• 1. Prodigy Math

2. Read a Math Book

3. create mnemonic devices, 4. deliver a daily starter, 5. visit the national library of virtual manipulatives, 6. run a round of initials, 7. play math baseball, 8. start a game of around the block, 9. play math tic-tac-toe, 10. modify a classic card game, 11. share teachertube videos, 12. co-ordinate live video, 13. research the leaning tower, 14. party on pi day, 15. hold a scavenger hunt, 16. play one-metre dash, 17. put a twist on gym class, 18. run think-pair-share exercises.

• 19. Hold a Game of Jeopardy

20. Take on a Challenge from Get The Math

When students think “fun,” memories of math class likely won’t be the first to pop into their heads. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

There are approaches and exercises, with and without computers, that can  enliven your math lessons .

You’ll likely find that the reward justifies the work of preparing and introducing them. After all, according many studies from  as early as the 1960s , engaged students pay more attention and perform higher than disengaged ones.W

But while making math fun for students is definitely effective, it's not always easy for busy educators to plan, prepare and deliver them on the spot.

That's why we've put together a list of 22 fun math activities for students.  Use these fun activity ideas to engage your students and help them build a lifelong love for learning math.

1. Play Prodigy Math

Grade levels: 1st-8th

Best for: Reinforcing lesson content, differentiating instruction and engaging students through game-based learning.

Use Prodigy — the standards-aligned math platform used by millions of students and teachers worldwide — to  engage your class while  reinforcing lesson content  and teaching essential skills.

Prodigy uses elements from students’ favorite video games as they compete in math duels against in-game characters. To win, they must answer sets of questions. You can customize these questions to supplement class material,  deliver assessments ,  prepare for tests  and more.

And the best bit? Educators and schools get full access to teaching tools at zero cost!

Here's a sneak peak of Prodigy in action! 👇

Grade levels: K-6th

Best for: Introducing new concepts, reinforcing learned skills, and encouraging independent learning.

Show your students that  reading engaging stories isn’t exclusive to language arts class.

There are many age-appropriate  math books  that effectively explain skills and techniques while providing exercises to help students understand content.

For example, the  Life of Fred  series introduces and teaches essential math skills aligned with most elementary school curricula.

The four books, each containing 19 lessons, present content through stories about cats, ice cream and other child-friendly subjects. With full answer keys, the series lends itself to practicing, reviewing or learning entire skills.

You can find age- and topic-specific math books through a few Amazon searches or a brief bookstore visit.

Grade levels: 3rd-8th

Best for: Helping learners remember math facts, equations and sequences.

Dedicate time for students to create mnemonic devices — cues such as rhymes and acronyms — to  help  recall math facts .

A popular example is “I need to be 16 years-old to drive a 4×4 pickup truck.” Such cues should be rhymes or quick stories that distill larger chunks of information, always using tangible objects or scenarios to make them memorable.

Although you can think of mnemonic devices yourself and share them with students, it’s beneficial to run an activity that gets them to make their own. They’ll likely find it easier to remember ones they create.

Grade levels: PreK-8th

Best for: Kicking off the day, focusing students' attention and warming up brains for math learning.

Drop by Scholastic’s  Daily Starters page  each morning to  find entry tickets suited to solo and group work. This includes skills and topics like mental math, place value and number sense.

Content levels range from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade, including problems from subjects other than math. Many teachers either print the questions or project them onto a whiteboard.

Aside from entry tickets, there are different ways to use Daily Starters — such as including them in learning stations or wrapping up a lesson with them.

Grade levels: K-12

Best for: Interactive learning and engagement, especially for visual learners.

Have students visit the online  National Library of Virtual Manipulatives  to  access activities that involve digital objects such as coins and blocks.

Created by Utah State University, the online library aims to engage students. To do so, there are manipulation tasks for students at every grade level.

For example, a 6th grade geometry activity involves using geo-boards to illustrate area, perimeter and rational number concepts. Ideal for classes with one-to-one device use, the website can also act as a learning station.

Grade levels : 4th-8th

Best for: Content reviews and encouraging students to work in teams.

Add a  game-like spin to content reviews  by playing Initials.

Hand a unique sheet to each student that has problems aligned with a common skill or topic. Instead of focusing on their own sheets, students walk around the room to solve questions on their classmates’.

Here’s the catch: A student can only complete one question per sheet, signing his or her initials beside the answer. The exercise continues until all questions on each sheet have answers,  encouraging students to build trust and teamwork .

Grade levels: 2nd-6th

Best for: Creating a competitive environment and reinforcing a variety of math concepts.

Divide your class into two teams to play math baseball —  an activity that gives you full control of the questions students answer.

One team will start “at bat,” scoring runs by choosing questions worth one, two or three bases. You’ll “pitch” the questions, which range in difficulty depending on how many bases they’re worth. If the at-bat team answers incorrectly, the defending team can correctly respond to earn an out. After three outs, switch sides.

Play until one team hits 10 runs, or five for a shorter entry or exit ticket.

Grade levels: 2nd-5th

Best for: Practicing any math skill in a fun, dynamic way.

Play Around the Block as a minds-on activity, using only a ball to  practice almost any math skill.

First, compile questions related to a distinct skill. Second, have students stand in a circle. Finally, give one student the ball and read aloud a question from your list.

Students must pass the ball clockwise around the circle, and the one who started with it must answer the question before receiving again.

If the student incorrectly answers, pass the ball to a classmate for the next question. If the student correctly answers, he or she chooses the next contestant.

Grade levels: 3rd-6th

Best for: Practicing a range of abilities and offering a familiar but math-focused game.

Pair students to  compete against one another while building different math skills  in this take on tic-tac-toe.

To prepare, divide a sheet into squares — three vertical by three horizontal. Fill these squares with questions that collectively test a range of abilities. The first student to link three Xs or Os — by correctly answering questions — wins.

This game can be a  learning station , refreshing prerequisite skills in preparation for new content.

Best for: Reinforcing basic math operations in a competitive and enjoyable manner.

Put a mathematical twist on a traditional card game  by having students play this version of  War .

Students should pair together, with each pair grabbing two decks of cards. Cards have the following values:

• Two to 10 — Face value

The rules of the game will depend on the grade you teach and the skills you’re building. Each student will always play two cards at a time, but younger kids must subtract the lower number from the higher.

Older students can multiply the numbers, designating a certain suit as having negative integers. Whoever has the highest hand wins all four cards.

Best for: Visual learners and supplementing lessons with video content.

Cover core skills by visiting  TeacherTube  — an education-only version of YouTube.

By searching for a specific topic or browsing by category, you can quickly find videos to supplement a lesson or act as a learning station.

For example, searching for “middle school algebra” will load a results page containing study guides, specific lessons and exam reviews.

Students and parents can also visit TeacherTube on their own time, as some videos explicitly apply to them.

Grade levels: 6th-12th

Best for: Enhancing class content with expert insights and diversifying teaching approaches.

Don’t limit yourself to pre-recorded videos — straightforward conferencing technology can allow  subject matter experts to deliver live lessons to your class.

Whether it’s a contact from another school or a seasoned lecturer you reach out to, bringing an expert into your classroom will expose your students to new ideas and can lighten your workload.

Add the person on Skype or Google Hangouts, delivering the lesson through the program. Skype even has a list of guest speakers who will voluntarily speak about their topics of expertise.

Grade levels: 4th-8th

Best for: Interdisciplinary learning, integrating math with real-world structures and events.

Delve into the Leaning Tower of Pisa, one of Italy’s famous landmarks, by running this  popular  interdisciplinary activity .

Although the exercise traditionally spans across subjects through guided research, you can focus on math by requiring students to:

• Develop an itinerary, complete with a budget, for a trip to Pisa
• Calculate measurements such as the tower’s area and volume
• Investigate the tower’s structure, determining if or when it’ll fall

For younger students, you can divide the activity into distinct exercises and allow them to work in groups. Older students should tackle it as an in-class or take-home project.

You can easily adjust the skill complexity to your students' needs, starting off with key math skills like subtraction, addition, multiplication, division and advancing into more complex areas like percentages, fractions and averages. Students at higher grades can even explore graphing and data analysis.

Best for: Making math fun, celebrating a mathematical constant and promoting math-themed camaraderie.

Celebrate Pi Day on March 14 each year by  dedicating an entire period, or more, to the mathematical constant.

Although specific activities depend on your students, you can start the lesson by giving a historical and conceptual overview of pi — from Archimedes to how modern mathematicians use it. After, delve into exercises.

For younger students, get construction paper and choose a colour to represent each digit. Red can be one, blue is two, green can represent three and so on. Their task is to arrange and order the paper to represent as much of pi’s value as possible.

For older students, run learning stations that allow them to complete questions, process content and play  math games  related to pi. For a fun finish, serve students pizza or another kind of pie.

Best for: Integrating technology, promoting research skills, and teaching new math concepts in a fun way.

Send your students on an Internet scavenger hunt, a potential addition to Pi Day fun, allowing them to  build research skills while processing new math concepts.

The exercise starts by providing a sheet of terms to define or questions to solve, which students can complete by using Google or a list of recommended websites. Regardless, the terms and questions should all fall under an overarching topic.

For example, “Find the definition of a negative integer” and “If you multiply a positive integer with a negative integer, will the product be positive or negative? What about multiplying two negative integers together?”

More than engaging, educational hunts introduce your students to resources they can regularly refer to.

Best for: Teaching students about estimation and measurement; hands-on learners; kinetic learners; group work.

Start this quick game to  build students’ perception and understanding of measurement.

Grouping students in small teams, give them metre sticks. They then look around the room for two to four items they think add up to a metre in length. In a few minutes, the groups measure the items and record how close their estimates were.

Want more of a challenge? Give them a centimetre-mark to hit instead of a metre. You can then ask them to convert results to micrometres, millimetres and more.

Best for: Linking physical activity and mathematics; catering to active learners; cross-curricular education; students who enjoy physical activities.

Fuse math and physical education by  delivering ongoing lessons that explain and explore certain motions.

It’s time to practice long jumps. But first, students can estimate how far they’ll jump. After, they can see how close they were.

Such activities can also supplement lessons about lifting, throwing and other actions — potentially interesting students who don’t normally enjoy gym or math.

Grade levels: All grades

Best for: Encouraging discussion and cooperation; fostering critical thinking; aiding understanding and retention; catering to a range of learning styles.

Launch a think-pair-share exercise to  expose students to three lesson-processing experiences in quick succession.

As the strategy’s name implies, start by asking students to individually  think  about a given topic or answer a specific question. Next,  pair  students together to discuss their results and findings. Finally, have each pair  share  their ideas with the rest of the class, and open the floor for further discussion.

The three parts of this exercise vary in length, giving you flexibility when lesson planning.

And because it allows your students to process content individually, in a small group and in a large group, it caters to your classroom’s range of learning and personality types

19. Hold a Game of Math Jeopardy

Grade levels: 3rd-12th

Best for: Reviewing multiple topics; competitive learners; group work; interactive class reviews.

Transform this famous game show to focus on your latest skill or unit,  preparing students for a quiz or test.

Setup involves attaching pockets to a bristol board, dividing them into columns and rows. Each column should focus on a topic, whereas each row should have a point value — 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1,000.

A team can ask for a question from any pocket, but other teams can answer first by solving the problem and raising their hands.

Once the class answers all questions, the team with the highest point total claims your prize. But each student wins in terms of engagement and practicing  peer support .

Looking for more fun math games? Check out this list of 23 classroom math games for kids .

Best for: Applying math to real-world scenarios; career-focused learning; students interested in how math is used in the professional world.

Teach your students about  how math is used in different careers and real-world situations  by visiting  Get the Math .

The website, aimed at middle and high school students, features videos of young professionals who explain how they use algebra. They then pose job-related questions to two teams of students in the video.

Your class can also participate, learning how to apply algebraic concepts in different scenarios. It’s a straightforward way to vary and contextualize your lesson content.

21. Virtual Math Escape Room

Grade levels: 4th-12th

Best for: Group activities where teamwork and problem-solving skills are essential. This activity is excellent for tech-savvy students andfor situations where you want to increase engagement through interactive digital tools.

Escape rooms have been a rising trend in recent years. Take advantage of their popularity by setting up a virtual math escape room. Develop a series of math puzzles that students must solve to "escape." Use a digital platform that allows you to hide clues and puzzles in an online environment. The time pressure and narrative can make solving math problems an exciting adventure!

22. Break the Code (Cryptography)

Grade levels: 5th-9th

Best for: Students who enjoy solving mysteries and puzzles. It's an engaging way to introduce abstract mathematical concepts like modular arithmetic and to showcase the practical applications of mathematics.

Awaken the budding mathematicians and detectives in your students with cryptography. Introduce simple encryption techniques and provide coded messages for your students to decipher. This activity can be tailored to different complexity levels, right from elementary to high school level.

Here's a simple version of math code breaking activity below!

Need further support? Check out these math worksheets!

As well as using fun math activities to deliver math content, you can also use worksheets. Ideal as part of a station rotation, these quick exercises can help students tackle math problems so you can gauge their understanding.

Here are some free printable worksheets to get you started:

• 1st Grade Math Worksheets
• 2nd Grade Math Worksheets
• 3rd Grade Math Worksheets
• 4th Grade Math Worksheets

Final Thoughts

Each of these exercises can inject engagement into your lessons, helping students process content and demonstrate understanding.

What’s more,  they’re versatile.  You can use many of the above activities to introduce concepts or reinforce lessons, and as minds-on exercises or exit tickets. Useful for you, fun for students.

Who says math can’t be engaging?

👉 Try Prodigy today — the standards-aligned, game-based learning platform that delivers fun math activities based on the student’s unique strengths and skill deficits. It’s used by more than 700,000 teachers and millions of students around the world.

9 Math Games for the Classroom

By The TFA Editorial Team

June 24, 2015

Who says math isn’t fun? We love math just the way it is, but for students who need a bit more encouragement to see math’s best attributes, it helps to get creative. Math teachers are very creative (and know how to have fun!). We dug through the archives to unearth nine math games, courtesy of math teacher and Teach For America alum Emily Mason, to help students practice problems, increase comprehension, and have fun in the classroom.

1. Round Robin Benefit: Round Robin is a cooperative activity and allows for group work in which each student has a specific purpose (ensuring everyone participates). Directions: Put students in groups of four (pre-planned to avoid classroom management issues and to ensure that you have one low student, two average students, and one high student in each group). Assign each student a color pencil and have them record his or her name so you can see who is responsible for specific steps in the activity. Each teammate will complete one operation or problem, and then pass on the worksheet to the next teammate. If students feel as though someone on their team has made a mistake, they may politely ask their teammate to reconsider their answer.

2. Sequence Benefit: Sequence helps students practice an objective (especially beneficial with a math objective that requires rote steps to come to an answer) without having to use the typical pencil-paper structure. Directions: Create index cards in advance to show the individual steps of solving a problem.  Make as many cards as necessary to solve the problem and paper clip them together. This is one problem. Make as many sets of problems as you need to accommodate the students in your class. Group students together and assign them numbers: Student 1 identifies the first step in solving the problem and places it on the desk. Student 2 identifies the second step and places it beneath the first step, and the process continues until the card with the solution on it is placed.

3. Maze Game Benefit : The maze game is a fun way to practice math problems. Directions: Get about 20 (or as many problems you want students to practice) pieces of computer sized paper. Write out the 20 problems in big print ALL in the same color so that students will be able to see the problems from their seats. Write “start here” on the first problem. Students will solve the problem on their own paper. The answer they find will tell them what problem to solve next. They look for the answer in a different color marker on the top left hand corner of the next problem they should solve. Then, they solve that problem, identify the answer, and find the next problem to solve. The maze ends when they solve the final problem in which the answer is written on the “start here” problem. This strategy is also great in making sure that students are not practicing problems incorrectly because they cannot move on in the maze until they find the correct answer.

4. Beat the Buzzer Benefit: Beat the buzzer helps instill a sense of urgency in your students and is a great way for students to review for tests/quizzes. Directions: Each student needs to have a pre-made answer sheet to record work for each problem. Create an index card for each problem and establish an order in which the cards are to be passed around the room. Each student should start with a particular problem number and record the work to that answer on his or her answer sheet. Start the timer for a set amount of time that you want to give your students to complete each problem. When the timer buzzes, students pass their cards to the next student in the established rotation in your room.  Typically, this activity is done silently to give a good measure of where students are in terms of mastery.

5. Find Someone Who Benefit: Find Someone Who gets students to move around the room and practice problems at the same time. Directions: Students walk around the room and complete a problem on their classmates’ sheets. The student that answers the problem initials the box to indicate that he or she solved it.  Students may only have a classmate sign their sheet once (this activity also really helps build classroom culture because students are reliant on each other to complete this activity).

6. Whiteboards Benefit: Whiteboards are awesome and contain multiple purposes: 1) they invest students (they LOVE working on whiteboards); 2) allow for constant checks for understanding so that you always know where and for whom mastery is breaking down; 3) they can be used in groups or by individuals; and 4) you can make them yourself (you don’t need to buy them!). Directions:  Present problems to the entire class and ask students to solve the problems on their whiteboards. When you say, “flip it,” the students should flip their boards to show the work they’ve done.  Make sure you already have the answers written out for the problems you are presenting, so you can quickly and easily check which students have the correct answer.

7. Learning Stations Benefit: Learning stations gives students space to practice multiple skills during a class period. They change up the regular structure of a math classroom by allowing students to complete stations in an allotted amount of time. Learning stations are especially useful for quiz/test review. Directions: Learning stations are self-explanatory and very flexible. Use them as a review method with each station representing an objective that will be on the unit test or quiz.  Students begin at one station, and when the buzzer goes off, students get up and move to the next station in the room. Consider placing pre-made packets at each station so students know what is expected at each location, and you’re able to assess their mastery.

8. Bingo Benefit: Bingo is another great review game for quizzes / tests. Directions: Write a series of problems on transparency sheets and cut them up into little pieces. Pull a problem transparency piece, put it on the overhead, and ask students to solve the problem on their individual answer sheets. If they get a correct answer, they are able to cross off a square (any one they choose) on their BINGO cards. Feel free to work out a problem together if you feel like students need it.  Students should be required to show all work on their answer sheets before declaring BINGO!

9. Jeopardy Benefit: No introduction needed, Jeopardy is a popular review game, especially great for quiz/test prep. Directions: Use the same format as regular Jeopardy, except with your own problems and answers. Students LOVE this game. To ensure everyone participates, try Whiteboard-style Jeopardy. Put students in groups of four (again, make sure you pre-plan these groups) to form teams, and have them write numbers (1-4) on their whiteboards—one student writes the number 1, one student writes the number 2, etc.  Put the Jeopardy answers on a projector or whiteboard. Then call out one number to provide the answer. (All students must solve the problem because they do not know which number you are going to choose.) This game is great for encouraging peer support.

What other math games do you use to increase class engagement and understanding? 

• Teaching Tips

More Like This

{ #card.dateline #}

Cognizant and Teach For America Announce Winners of Annual Innovation in Computer Science Education Awards

Dedicated Florida Teachers Work Together to Enhance Student Opportunities

One Veteran Teacher Shares Lessons Learned Along the Way

How One TFA Alum Brings Safety and Perspective to the Classroom

Thanks for signing up!

You'll find great content in your inbox soon.

Redefine the future for students at Teach For America.

Take the next step and join the corps today.

At Teach For America, we know lasting change can happen: All children will get the excellent education they deserve.

See how change happens.

Check your inbox for a welcome email and make sure to confirm your subscription!

K-5 Math Centers

K-5 math ideas, 3rd grade math, need help organizing your k-5 math block, 5 ways to include math problem solving activities in your classroom.

Are you looking for math problem solving activities that are not too easy and not too hard, but juuust right? I’ve got something just for you and your students.

Solve and Explain Problem Solving Tasks are open-ended math tasks that provide just the right amount of challenge for your kids. Here’s a little more about them.

Open-ended math problem solving tasks:

• promote multiple solution paths and/or multiple solutions
• boost critical thinking and math reasoning skills
• increase opportunities for developing perseverance
• provide opportunities to justify answer choices
• strengthen kids written and oral communication skills

What Makes These So Great?

• All Common Core Standards are covered for your grade level
• 180+ Quality questions that are rigorous yet engaging
• They are SUPER easy to assemble
• Provide opportunities for meaningful math discussions
• Perfect for developing a growth mindset
• Easily identify student misconceptions so you can provide assistance
• Very versatile (check out the different ways to use them below)

You can find out more details for your grade level by clicking on the buttons below.

I’m sure you really want to know how can you use these with your kids. Check out the top 5 ideas on how to use Solve and Explain Problem Solving Tasks in your classroom.

How and When Can I Use Them?

Solve and Explain Tasks Cards are very versatile. You can use them for:

• Math Centers  – This is my favorite way to use these! Depending on your grade level, there are at least two (Kinder – 2nd) or three (3rd-5th) tasks types per Common Core standard. And each task type has 6 different questions. Print out each of the different tasks types on different color paper. Then, let students choose which one question from each task type they want to solve.

• Problem of the Day  – Use them as a daily math journal prompt. Print out the recording sheet and project one of the problems on your white board or wall.  Students solve the problem and then glue it in their spiral or composition notebooks.

• Early Finisher Activities  -No more wondering what to do next!Create an early finishers notebook where students can grab a task and a recording sheet. Place the cards in sheet protectors and make copies of the Early Finisher Activity Check-Off card for your kids to fill out BEFORE they pull a card out to work on. We want to make sure kids are not rushing through there first assignment before moving on to an early finisher activity.

• Weekly Math Challenges  – Kids LOVE challenges! Give students copies of one of the problems for homework. Then give them a week to complete it. Since many of the questions have multiple solutions and students have to explain how they got their answers, you can have a rich whole group discussion at the end of the week (even with your kindergarten and 1st grade students).

Shop Recommended Resources

• Formative Assessments  – Give your students a problem to solve. Then use the Teacher Scoring Rubric to see how your kids are doing with each standard. Since they have to explain their thinking, this is a great way to catch any misconceptions and give feedback to individual students.

So this wraps up the top 5 ways that you can use problem solving tasks in your classroom.  Click your grade level below to get Solve and Explain problem solving tasks for your classroom.

• Read more about: K-5 Math Ideas

You might also like...

Reflect and Reset: Tips for Becoming a Better Math Teacher

Student Math Reflection Activities That Deepen Understanding

5 Math Mini-Lesson Ideas that Keep Students Engaged

A Rigorous Elementary Math Curriculum for Busy Teachers

What We Offer:

Follow us here:.

Free Lesson Library

These incredibly powerful, flexible activities can be used with a variety of content and contexts.

These games are chosen for their simplicity and depth.

Problems that resist easy solutions while encouraging perseverance and deeper understanding.

• All Lessons

Selecting this shows all the free lessons in our library.

Transform the first 5 – 10 minutes of math class into a pedagogical powerhouse. These openers promote rigorous thinking and discourse, and shift classroom culture toward student engagement and meaningful work. A perfect prerequisite for using rich tasks, and fantastic for every age.

NEW! How to Use Mathematical Openers PD mini workshop is now live! It’s available at Grassroots Workshop for $39. Check it out here !

Lessons - Openers

• Common Core Math Practices
• Counting and Cardinality
• Expressions and Equations
• Measurement and Data
• Number System
• Numbers and Operations in Base Ten
• Numbers and Operations in Fraction
• Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• Ratio and Proportion
• Exploration
• Divisibility
• Measurement
• Mental Math Games
• Multiplication
• Place Value
• Subtraction

Join Our Mailing List

Get tons of free content, like our Games to Play at Home packet, puzzles, lessons, and more!

Math Starters: 10 Simple Strategies

• One Comment

Ignite student learning with math starters— quick activities used at the beginning of math class to engage your kids’ critical thinking and problem solving skills. This post shares 10 math starters that will jump-start student learning.

On my first day as a middle school teacher, my principal said the strangest thing.

He said, “Your students cannot leave during the first five or last five minutes of class.” 

Why? I thought to myself.

Maybe he didn’t want students to get caught in a tardy sweep?

I had no clue. 

“Because,” as he said, “they are the most important minutes of the class period.”

I’d never heard that before, but it made me stop and think about the message behind it. 

As I thought more about this expectation, I finally understood.

I needed to grab my students’ attention during the first five minutes of class– which meant I should program the first five minutes with a fun and engaging math starter. 

What are Math Starters?

Math starters, critical thinking activities , designed to get students thinking about math, provide opportunities to “sneak” in grade-level content and skills in a fun and engaging way. Intended to take no more than 5 -10 minutes of instructional time, starters can include a wide variety of tasks.

Over the years, I have used a number of starters, including number of the day and word wall activities; however, my favorite activities are challenges that allow me to reinforce a variety of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies. 

Math Starter Ideas

Here’s a list of my favorite ways to jump-start my math class. 

Emphasize Algebraic Thinking

1. Ask students to find five ways to represent a number, such as 1000, or have students represent the day of the month or the ____ day of school in a variety of ways.

2. Encourage algebraic thinking with number logic. To complete the task, students must determine the value of one or more symbols, such as snowflake + snowflake = 12 and snowflake – snowman = 2.

3. Challenge students with a logic puzzle . To create this puzzle, fill a 3 x 3 grid with three or four different objects, such as some fun seasonal erasers (you will need multiples of some objects). Then assign each object a value (keep it secret). Record the sum of each row or column on the outside of the table and challenge the students to find the value of each object. (See the picture above for an example.)

Encourage Problem Solving

4. Give students a quick problem-solving task to complete, such as “During the winter snow season, the Snowy Mountain Coffee Spot sells hot chocolate for 47 cents. If Katrina paid for a cup of hot chocolate with exactly five coins (quarters, nickels, dimes, or pennies), which five coins did she use?” Note: Consider opening the task by removing the condition of “five” to say “which coins did she use?” (See the image above.) 

5. Challenge students with an Open Middle task. These tasks end with the same solution but have multiple solution paths to allow students at various levels to achieve success. 

Use Clues to Eliminate Options

6. Give students clues to determine the mystery number. See the example below.

The number is:

• not an odd number,
• more than the value of a penny,
• less than the number that is two more than five,
• more than the number of sides on a square.

7. Using a set of pattern blocks, give students clues, and have them sequence the pattern blocks within a horizontal set of four numbered boxes. For example, students can order the hexagon, the blue rhombus, the trapezoid, and the triangle with the following clues.

• There is a quadrilateral in the even-numbered boxes.
• The shape with the least number of sides is not on the right side.
• The shape with one pair of parallel sides is not next to the triangle.

Analyze Relationships

8. Review math vocabulary with “What’s the Relationship?” To use this activity, write 5 – 7 related math words on the board. Then have students determine how the words are related to each other. Add a twist by including a non-related word and ask students to determine which word doesn’t belong.

9. Create a Venn Diagram with pattern blocks and then ask students to determine the common attribute for each set of shapes.

Build Number Sense

10. Tiling tasks require students to use a set of numbered tiles, 0-9, to complete a set of problems. Typically, each tile fits in one, and only one, solution. Use tiling tasks, like the one above, to challenge students to find the value of each symbol. (Use the form below to grab this freebie and challenge your students!)

Engage ‘Em from the Start!

Let’s jump-start the new semester with a bang! Start your next math class with one of the activities above. Then tell us all about it in the comments below.

Give one of the ideas above a try. Then tell us about your experience in the comments below.

Shametria Routt Banks

• Assessment Tools
• Content and Standards
• Critical Thinking
• Differentiation
• Math & Literature
• Math & Technology
• Math Routines
• Math Stations
• Virtual Learning
• Writing in Math

You may also like...

One Response

Thank your for the resources

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

©2024 The Routty Math Teacher.   All Rights Reserved.  Designed by Ashley Hughes.

Privacy overview.

• Our Mission

3 Math Games You Can Use in Class Today

These games for upper elementary and middle school students require little to no preparation and reinforce math facts.

For many students, math class can feel overwhelming, unwelcoming, and stressful. While there are many ways math teachers can work to shift this mindset in our students, one easy way is to infuse joy into math lessons through games. The following three math games can be done in as little as five minutes once they have been introduced to students and require little to no prep. Additionally, these games can easily be scaled up or down in difficulty to work for any classroom.

1. Buzz (No Prep)

Buzz is a quick and easy way to help students recognize multiples. To play, first have all students stand up. This game works well when students are arranged in rows or a circle but can be done with any arrangement as long as students know the order in which they will participate.

Once all students are standing, select a student to start counting. Before that student says 1, tell the students which multiple they must “buzz” on. For example, you may say that students will buzz on multiples of 3. That means that as the students count, any student whose number is a multiple of 3 will say “Buzz” instead of the number. Any student who says the wrong number or forgets to say “Buzz” is out and sits down.

The game can continue until you have a few students left as the winners. If you have a few students who are particularly nervous about being put on the spot, encourage them to keep track of the numbers called on a piece of paper to better prepare themselves for their turn. Remind those students that the game moves quickly and very little attention will be given to any single mistake.

The game will sound like this if students are going to buzz on multiples of 3:

Student A begins counting at “1.” The next student in the given order (make sure to tell students the order in which they will go) continues with “2.” The third student says, “Buzz.” The next student then picks up and says “4.”

To scale up the difficulty, you can have students buzz on a more difficult multiple, such as 7 or 12. You could even require students to buzz on common multiples of a given two numbers such as 3 and 4.

2. What Number Am I? (No Prep)

This game is a great way to practice not only fact fluency but math vocabulary, too. To play, select one student to be the first player. That student will come to the front of the class with their back to the board. On the board behind them, you will write a number so that the student cannot see what it is.

All other students will then give the player clues to help him or her guess the number. Students must raise their hands and, when called on by the player, can give one math fact as a clue. When the player accurately guesses the number, they select the next player to come to the board.

The game will sound like this:

Student A comes to the board and faces the class. The number 18 is written on the board. Student A calls on student B for a clue, and student B says, “You are the product of 3 and 6.” If student A knows this product, they can say, “I’m 18!” but if they are not sure, they can call on another student for a new clue.

To scale down the difficulty, you might tell students to only use addition and subtraction facts as clues and to emphasize words like sum and difference. You may want to focus on smaller numbers to write on the board.

To scale up the difficulty, you may give students larger numbers to work with, encourage the use of multiplication and division facts, or have students use square roots and exponents in their clues.

3. Fact Fluency Challenge (Minimal Prep)

This game allows students to engage in a competition as they work on given fluency practice. To play, split the class into two teams and select a representative from each team to start. I like to bring two chairs to the front of the room so the participants are right in front of the board when they play. On the board, post a math fact; the first student to answer wins a point for their team. The participants rotate so that each team member gets an opportunity to compete.

I use an online math fact generator so that I can quickly present math facts for a given operation and number range. If you want math facts that address a specific topic not easily found in an online flashcard version, you can make your own slide show to use with your students.

To scale down the difficulty, focus on single-digit numbers dealing with addition and subtraction, and to scale up the difficulty, you could focus on larger numbers dealing with multiplication or division, use decimals or fractions, or require students to simplify a multi-operation expression.

World Maths Day: 12 Fantastic Activities For Your Classroom

Share this post, table of contents, 1. i have...who has....

This is a really fun and interactive game for the whole class to play this World Maths Day. Each student is given a card which has an answer and a question on. You begin the game by reading out a number – “who has 15?”. The student with this number will then stand up and say “I have 15, who has 7 x 3?” and so on. See how long your students can keep going without breaking the chain!

2. World Maths Day Bingo

One activity that students are guaranteed to love is bingo! Dependent on your class’ ability, students can fill a bingo card with either numbers or unsolved sums/equations. The only requirement is that they are 1-20. You can then use a random number generator to call out different numbers 1-20. The winner of course needs a prize!

3. Designing Maths Problems

Getting your students to design their own maths problems is a fun activity that gets your pupils thinking about maths from a different perspective! Once your students have designed their own world maths day problems, get them to solve each others!

Example Word Problems:

1. Georgia read 4 books, Sienna read 6 books and Abbi read 9 books. One book was read by all three children but all the rest were different. How many books did the children read?

2. Greg’s nine chickens laid an average of six eggs each per week. Greg sold those eggs for $3 per dozen. How much money did he collect in two weeks if he sold all his eggs?

3. Lindsay’s band had practised 27 songs. At a performance, they played 8 songs in their first set and 9 songs in their second set. How many songs did they have for their third set, if they had to save one song for an encore?

4. Shape Hunt

Organise a shape hunt around the playground for your class! Get creative and hide different shapes around the yard and get the students to have a competition. Whoever collects the most shapes and correctly names them is the winner!

A way to make this activity more challenging is to add some strange shapes into the hunt that the children may be a little unfamiliar with. This is a fun way to teach the students about some new and interesting shapes this World Maths Day!

5. School Travel Graph

Why not get your students to collect some data and make their own graph this World Maths Day? Ask your students to go around the classroom and find out how each of their peers got to school that morning. Using the data that they’ve collected, they should be able to create their very own graph! Allow students to choose which type of graph they want to create is a good way to get them thinking about different ways to represent data.

The difficulty of this activity can be changed depending on the age of your students!

6. School Times Table Competition

A fun way to get the whole school involved in World Maths Day is to host a times table competition! Set different competitions for KS1 and KS2 students and announce the winners during an assembly. 

Times tables are a vital foundation for so many topics in maths, so why not make them a part of World Maths Day? Get the whole school involved and have fun with times tables!

An excellent times table competition is featured on Emile! This is a super fun way of encouraging the whole school to get involved in learning their times tables!

7. True or False

A really fun World Maths Day activity to get students learning is a True or False game! Put together some interesting and strange maths facts plus some made up ones and get students to fill out whether they are true or false.

Some interesting maths facts:

• The number 4 is the only number with the same number of letters that it represents.
• In a classroom of 23 people, there’s a 50% chance two of them have the same birthday.
• The square root of -1 is i.
• 3.24 and -8 are examples of numbers you cannot represent as roman numerals.
• 7 is the most popular favourite number
• There are more ways to arrange a deck of cards than there are atoms on Earth.

8. Estimating Jelly Beans In A Jar

Get your students to take a guess at how many jelly beans are in a jar on your desk! Students can use their estimating skills to figure out the rough estimate of how many jelly beans there are. The student who guesses the closest value wins a prize (maybe even the jelly beans!)

9. Hourly Maths Challenge

Engage your students this World Maths Day with the hourly maths challenge! Every hour, give your class a fun maths question to solve. The first to solve the puzzle could win a small prize! This is an exciting way to get students more involved in World Maths Day.

10. Maths Brain Teasers

Brain teasers are a really enjoyable activity for students as it gets them thinking in a different way than usual. Solving a difficult brain teaser always feels like a big achievement!

Some Maths Brain Teasers:

• I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What am I? (Seven – take away the S and it becomes even!)
• I add five to nine, and get two. The answer is correct, but how? (It’s actually time! 9AM + 5 hours = 2PM)
• Think of a number. Double it. Add 10. Halve it. Take away your original number. Your answer is 5! Can you explain how this works? (This works because the doubling and halving cancel each other out. So, all that is left when you subtract the original number is 5)
• Here  is a good website with more fun maths brain teasers!

11. Snail Racing

This activity is great for students to improve their fluency in addition to twelve! Get your pupils to draw 12 snails with 10 boxes beside each of them. Students will take turns rolling two dice and then adding them up. The sum of the two dice determines which snail moves forward one. 12 students can then race each other and see which of them gets to 10 first!

Why not try out Emile this World Maths Day? Emile is an amazing learning resource for pupils in KS1 and KS2! We engage students in learning through fun, educational games. Emile tracks the progress of each student and using this data will target specific areas that they need to work on! This ensures progress for each student.

Emile is the perfect resource for days like these as students will LOVE playing these fun and engaging games that we offer! Try it out today!

More Emile Blogs

• Year 5 And 6 Spelling List: Brilliant Games And Activities!
• Preventing Summer Slide: 6 Fun Activities To Keep Your Students Learning
• Year 2 Division: Brilliant Tips And Activities For This Topic

Fun Activities For Year 6 And After SATs Year 6 Mini Project Ideas!

Multiplication tables check: how to best prepare your year 4 class, ks2 sats: how to best prepare your year 6 for sats, ofsted deep dives: example questions and effective ways to prepare, year 6 algebra eight superb teaching tips, careers week: for primary schools 2022, you are a reader – world book day 2022, happy new year 2022: welcome to this year’s new adventure – activities and tips, christmas 2021: educational christmas activities for your classroom, the christmas activity pack 2021, learn to spell: spelling tips for the classroom., homonyms: five tips, fun activities & ten examples., teacher assistant talks: my experiences being a ta., black history month 2021: fun and educational resources, maths terminology – easy tips for teachers & pupils, end of term 2021: 12 fun activities for the end of term., maths mastery & formative and summative assessments: a guide for nqt., active learning- maths & english tips & activites., homework environment: tips and tricks for parents., internet safety for primary schools: resources for teachers., christmas activities: five festive ideas for your classroom., catch up premium: an ultimate guide to the government’s intervention plan for the slt, coronavirus – a guide for primary school leaders, the importance of unstructured play in your child’s life, the 7 essential features of every maths mastery approach, teacher personalities you meet in every school, adverbials – what they are & 6 great ideas for the classroom, reduce teacher workload by banning homework, the new and slightly improved 100 books to read in year 5/6 by “the teaching booth”, classroom relationships and the power of warm/strict by robbie burns, assessment frameworks & levels, using competition to improve spelling in schools, teaching angles: 5 activities for your classroom, tips on classroom displays, the year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium, sen funding by abigail hawkins from sendco solutions, how to deal with angry, difficult or hostile parents, using lego to teach about fractions, impostor syndrome as a teacher, teaching conjunctions | 12 activities for the classroom, does homework work, tips for teaching measurements, 4 tips for headteacher interviews, marking in schools – what’s right or wrong, introducing statistics in primary schools, games-based learning or gamification what are they, teaching times tables, more to explore, how to teach prepositions and some class activities, the 10 times table – fun tricks, videos and activities for the classroom., tricky words: five fun activities for your classroom, gesawards – global edtech startup 2021, how to achieve a positive work life balance, emile review by mr hunt – teaching from the front line –, comparison of primary and a-level grammar| asking too much, dfe endorses emile – games based learning resources., back to school: fun motivation from home for the 21/22 academic year., my first half term as a deputy headteacher, year 6 spelling: worksheets and activities, phonics screening: the best ways to prepare your students, school staff wellbeing – 10 great ideas that will help wellbeing in your school., noun phrases expanded – everything a teacher (or parent) needs to know, useful tips to help children like maths, teacher wellbeing: mental health awareness month., emile travels to dubai and to gess 2018, 12 times table – great activities for the classroom, 6 fun summer activities- to keep them learning, maths games help children, multiplication tables check (mtc) letter for parents.

• EdTech 50 Emile included again!

Critical Pedagogy – What is it?

Times tables: 3 amazing tips for nqt teaching times tables., teaching punctuation: free classroom display., city simulator – games-based learning resource, free full access to emile for any school affected by the coronavirus, how to motivate disaffected students, emile education is a tech 1st, times table speed test – free for your school, subitizing resources, edu-tweeters for primary school teachers, an introduction to maths mastery, recent posts.

• The Impact of National Primary School Competitions – Spelling and Times Tables by the University of Manchester
• Times Tables World Cup for Schools
• Fun Compound Words Worksheets And Activities For Your KS1 Classroom
• Phonics Lesson Plans: Brilliant Structure For KS1 Lessons
• 10 Superb Homophone Games To Engage Your Class!
• Number Bonds To 10 And 20: Brilliant Games And Activities For Your Class
• 9 Fun Number Line Games For Your Class!
• 10 Fun Phonics Games To Help Your Students With Phonics!

Copyright Webskape Ltd 2024

Request a Demo

We run online demo’s daily for teachers throughout the year. They are a great way to see Emile in action and see if it’s right for your tutor group, school or MAT.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site you consent to our use of cookies.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

NEW: Classroom Clean-Up/Set-Up Email Course! 🧽

30 Thought-Provoking Math Puzzles for Middle Schoolers

Critical thinking, trial and error, and pure logic abound.

Tired of your tried-and-true math routine? Chances are if you’re feeling the itch to incorporate new activities into your math time, your students are as well. Mixing it up in math class can bring fresh perspectives to stale concepts or standards, and your students will enjoy stretching their brains in different ways with these middle school math puzzles. Critical thinking, trial and error, and pure logic abound in these 30 though-provoking puzzles. Get ready to reignite your middle schoolers’ excitement for math!

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

Sudoku is way more than just an activity to pass the time on long-haul flights. This math puzzle is actually a fantastic problem-solving activity for middle schoolers. Kick-starting your typical math class with a Sudoku puzzle will have your students thinking critically, practicing trial and error, and looking at math in a totally different way. Plus, you can differentiate by providing Easy, Medium, and Difficult puzzles.

Learn more: Sodoku Puzzles To Print

2. 5 Pirates Puzzle

Ahoy and shiver me timbers! This logic puzzle is perfect for a small-group activity to get your middle schoolers working together to solve the conundrum of how pirates plan to share treasure among themselves. Multiple scenarios will play out in this puzzle, so scaffolding with problem-solving strategies is a must.

Learn more:  5 Pirates Puzzles/Math Is Fun

3. Fives Challenge Puzzle

This puzzle is perfect for reviewing addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction and would be a great activity to do when gearing up to teach order of operations. Students could work in pairs or small groups to riddle out each target number.

Learn more:  Fives Challenge Puzzle/Math = Love

4. Beehive Puzzle

Perfect for a station during math rotation or for a rainy-day recess activity, this logic puzzle involves creating a beehive shape without having any squares of the same color touching each other. Students can practice trial and error as well as problem-solving.

Learn more:  Beehive Puzzle/Math = Love

5. Guess My Number

Guess My Number is just as much a riddle as it is a math puzzle. Students use their number sense to determine the number in question. As an extension activity, students can come up with their own clues and trade them with a classmate to solve.

Learn more:  Guess My Number/Education.com

6. Math Riddles

Perfect for a morning warmup, these middle school math puzzles activate all kinds of math knowledge. You can poll the class and have them show their work before clicking to reveal the correct answer. This site even has more challenging puzzles if your middle schoolers fly through the easier ones.

Learn more:  Math Riddles/Get Riddles

My seventh graders loved playing this puzzle as an early-finisher activity. Though the idea is simple (move the tiles until two of the same numbers touch), it’s actually great for recognizing exponents and also for thinking strategically.

Learn more:  2048/Prodigy

8. Magic Squares

Magic Squares have been around for thousands of years, and they come in all shapes and sizes. The 3×3 grid is a great size to introduce to your students and then work up to larger and more complex grids. You can even bring this puzzle off the paper and have your students write the grid out in sidewalk chalk, or write the numbers on water bottle caps to make a fun tactile activity.

Learn more:  Magic Squares/Prodigy

9. Impossible Domino Bridge

Using dominoes to build a seemingly impossible bridge is a perfect activity for the first day or week of a new school year. Your students can work together in small groups and get to know one another as they attempt to construct the bridge that looks like it could turn into a game of Jenga at any moment.

Learn more:  Impossible Domino Bridge/Math = Love

10. Math Picture Puzzles

Your students communicate through emojis anyway, so why not get math involved? This self-checking site allows them to work independently (on the honor system) and also choose between three levels of difficulty. Students can take this idea to the next level, create their own emojis, and arrange them in number sentences for their classmates to solve.

Learn more: Picture Puzzles/MathEasily.com

11. What Is the Weight?

Sometimes you just need a quick resource to get your students working on solving a math puzzle. This puzzle comes from an app, so you can have it downloaded on your students’ iPads or tablets. Middle schoolers will focus on determining the weights of different animals, which is good practice for estimating and working with customary/metric units of measurement.

Learn more: Brain Teasers/Mental Up

12. Colorku

Math doesn’t always have to be just about numbers. This board game uses colors and patterns to focus on analyzing sequences, and would be great to have on hand for those rainy-day recesses as well as for inclusion in a math station. Further, Colorku can be used as a calm-down tool or even a fidget tool.

Buy it: Colorku at Amazon

13. Rubik’s Cube

Rubik’s Cubes made a major comeback in popularity when I taught fifth grade. My students would happily sit together at recess to race each other to see who could solve the cube faster. Though entertaining, Rubik’s Cubes are also suited to teach students about growth mindset, spacial awareness, and 3D space.

Buy it: Rubik’s Cube at Amazon

14. SafeCracker

Though this puzzle looks like something out of an Indiana Jones quest, it’s actually a tactilely engaging tool that will delight even your most resistant math learners. The goal is to align the wheel into columns where the sum adds up to 40. You might need to get more than one of these middle school math puzzles for your classroom.

Buy it: SafeCracker at Amazon

15. “T” Brain Teaser Puzzle

In addition to sparking structural design creativity, this boxed wooden puzzle challenges middle schoolers to engage in trial and error as they work at fitting 50+ pieces into a cube. Much of math is learning how to persevere through tricky problems or procedures, and this puzzle definitely fosters that.

Buy it: T Brain Teaser at Amazon

16. Multistep Equation Puzzle

Solve-and-sort puzzles add flair to repeatedly solving different variations of a math problem for practice. In this free puzzle, students will need to not only solve the equations with variables on both sides, they will also need to sort the problem based on if their solution is positive or negative in order to uncover the secret word.

Get it: Solve-and-Sort Puzzle/Teachers Pay Teachers

In this variation of a classic Sudoku puzzle, students practice critical thinking and exercise their knowledge of how the four math operations work. The best thing about these types of puzzles is that the differentiation potential is endless. Students can solve smaller puzzles with addition, or use only prime numbers in a more complex multiplication problem.

Learn more: Yohaku

18. Jigmaze

One of the Standards for Mathematical Practices is perseverance, and all teachers know that this is a tough one to instill in students, even more so if students are struggling in foundational skills. This type of puzzle can be used to strengthen perseverance as students physically arrange and rearrange pieces of a broken maze.

Learn more: Jigmaze/Math = Love

19. Flexagons

Flexagons, octaflexagons, and dodecaflexagons (say that one 10 times fast!) are a mathematical take on traditional origami. Through constructing these paper creations, your students will get exposure to geometrical terms such as faces ,  equilateral triangles , and all manner of types of 3D shapes.

Get it: Flexagons/Medium

20. Möbius Strip

Though the high-level mathematical equation may be well above your students’ heads (and mine too, if I’m being honest), the STEAM-centered concept of a Möbius strip can be a fun one to explore and create (no need to go into cosines and conversational belts). Middle school math puzzles for the win!

Get it for free: Make a Möbius/STEAMsational

In this complex-looking puzzle, the goal is for the sum of each vertical or horizontal line to match the number given at the beginning of the row or column. This site comes with a great explanation on exactly what that means and how to achieve it. A Kakuro puzzle would be a great “learn as you go” activity for students where they really must pay close attention to the instructions to be able to understand the goal.

Learn more: Kakuro/Braingle

22. Number Searches

This school district’s site has tons of grade-specific number puzzles that would be perfect for when you need to be out of the classroom and have a substitute teacher. They are ready to be printed and contain easy explanations for your students. Check out the number searches, patterns, and 3D riddles.

Learn more: Number Searches/Cranbury School District

23. Two Truths and One Lie

The tried-and-true icebreaker used at many a staff meeting and the first week of school, Two Truths and One Lie can also be used to review and practice tons of mathematical concepts. These middle school math puzzles cover concepts such as negative numbers, fractions, and a ton more.

Buy it: Two Truths & One Lie Math Edition at Amazon

24. Adding Integers Puzzle

The objective of this cuttable resource is for students to solve the integer problem and match up expressions that end up having the same sum. The multiple size options are great for differentiation or to make this independent activity into a small-group collaborative activity.

Buy it: Adding Integers at Teachers Pay Teachers

25. Perfect Square Roots

For upper middle school students, this square-roots puzzle helps with the recognition of perfect square roots. Rather than simply memorizing the perfect square roots, students work to identify and spell out the specific square root and ensure that it fits within the crossword. In this way, the puzzle is self-checking as well.

Buy it: Square Roots Crossword at Teachers Pay Teachers

26. Factor Tree Challenge

Factor trees are an effective way to visually show students the factors of numbers. Trees allow a chain of multiple factors, so you can start with a large number and end up with “branches” that show all of the factors. Once your middle schoolers are familiar with this concept, have them explore this self-checking challenge (and many others as well) that will test their knowledge of abstract factors.

Learn more: Prime Challenges/Transum

27. Ludicross

Another take on Sudoku, Ludicross is interactive in that students can drag and drop the number into position with the goal of making the sum of the numbers in both diagonals the same. Like several of the other puzzles mentioned in this list, students can take this number puzzle to the next level by creating their own and swapping with a classmate to solve.

Learn more: Ludicross/Transum

28. Interactive Mobiles

These colorfully shaped mobiles are a unique way for students to make pattern associations. Because these puzzles are self-paced, students can begin with a simple puzzle and work their way up to complex mobiles with three or more shapes.

Try it: Mobiles/SolveMe Puzzles

29. Deleting Sheep

This logic puzzle is a doozy! The objective is to remove only two numbers in each row with the result being that each horizontal and vertical line equals 30. Trial and error and problem-solving skills abound in this puzzle, and it will keep your middle schoolers engaged for quite some time.

Get it: Deleting Sheep/Dover Publications

30. Pips Puzzle

Have any spare decks of cards lying around your classroom? This inexpensive item provides a different take on a Magic Square. Students can work in small groups, and maybe you can ignite a little class competition to see which groups can complete the challenge the fastest.

Buy it: Pips Puzzle/Math = Love

Looking for more engaging math resources? Try these Magical Math Puzzles and Number Tricks To Wow Your Students .

Plus, get all the latest teaching tips and tricks when you sign up for our free newsletters .

You Might Also Like

35 Math Brain Teasers To Puzzle Even Your Smartest Students

When does 9 + 5 = 2? Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

• STEM Ambassadors
• School trusts
• ITE and governors
• Invest in schools
• STEM careers inspiration
• Benefits and impact
• Our supporters
• Become a STEM Ambassador
• Request a STEM Ambassador
• Employer information
• Training and support
• STEM Ambassadors Partners
• Working with community groups
• Search icon
• Join the STEM Community

Problem Solving

 A selection of resources containing a wide range of open-ended tasks, practical tasks, investigations and real life problems, to support investigative work and problem solving in primary mathematics.

Problem Solving in Primary Maths - the Session

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: Teachers TV

In this programme shows a group of four upper Key Stage Two children working on a challenging problem; looking at the interior and exterior angles of polygons and how they relate to the number of sides. The problem requires the children to listen to each other and to work together co-operatively. The two boys and two girls are closely observed as they consider how to tackle the problem, make mistakes, get stuck and arrive at the "eureka" moment. They organise the data they collect and are then able to spot patterns and relate them to the original problem to find a formula to work out the exterior angle of any polygon. At the end of the session the children report back to Mark, explaining how they arrived at the solution, an important part of the problem solving process.

In a  second video  two maths experts discuss some of the challenges of teaching problem solving. This includes how and at what stage to introduce problem solving strategies and the appropriate moment to intervene when children find tasks difficult. They also discuss how problem solving in the curriculum also helps to develop life skills.

Cards for Cubes: Problem Solving Activities for Young Children

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: Claire Publications

This book provides a series of problem solving activities involving cubes. The tasks start simply and progress to more complicated activities so could be used for different ages within Key Stages One and Two depending on ability. The first task is a challenge to create a camel with 50 cubes that doesn't fall over. Different characters are introduced throughout the book and challenges set to create various animals, monsters and structures using different numbers of cubes. Problems are set to incorporate different areas of mathematical problem solving they are: using maths, number, algebra and measure.

Problem solving with EYFS, Key Stage One and Key Stage Two children

Quality Assured Category: Computing Publisher: Department for Education

These three resources, from the National Strategies, focus on solving problems.

  Logic problems and puzzles  identifies the strategies children may use and the learning approaches teachers can plan to teach problem solving. There are two lessons for each age group.

Finding all possibilities focuses on one particular strategy, finding all possibilities. Other resources that would enhance the problem solving process are listed, these include practical apparatus, the use of ICT and in particular Interactive Teaching Programs .

Finding rules and describing patterns focuses on problems that fall into the category 'patterns and relationships'. There are seven activities across the year groups. Each activity includes objectives, learning outcomes, resources, vocabulary and prior knowledge required. Each lesson is structured with a main teaching activity, drawing together and a plenary, including probing questions.

Primary mathematics classroom resources

Quality Assured Collection Category: Mathematics Publisher: Association of Teachers of Mathematics

This selection of 5 resources is a mixture of problem-solving tasks, open-ended tasks, games and puzzles designed to develop students' understanding and application of mathematics.

Thinking for Ourselves: These activities, from the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM) publication 'Thinking for Ourselves’, provide a variety of contexts in which students are encouraged to think for themselves. Activity 1: In the bag – More or less requires students to record how many more or less cubes in total...

8 Days a Week: The resource consists of eight questions, one for each day of the week and one extra. The questions explore odd numbers, sequences, prime numbers, fractions, multiplication and division.

Number Picnic: The problems make ideal starter activities

Matchstick Problems: Contains two activities concentrating upon the process of counting and spotting patterns. Uses id eas about the properties of number and the use of knowledge and reasoning to work out the rules.

Colours: Use logic, thinking skills and organisational skills to decide which information is useful and which is irrelevant in order to find the solution.

GAIM Activities: Practical Problems

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: Nelson Thornes

Designed for secondary learners, but could also be used to enrich the learning of upper primary children, looking for a challenge. These are open-ended tasks encourage children to apply and develop mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding and to integrate these in order to make decisions and draw conclusions.

Examples include:

*Every Second Counts - Using transport timetables, maps and knowledge of speeds to plan a route leading as far away from school as possible in one hour.

*Beach Guest House - Booking guests into appropriate rooms in a hotel.

*Cemetery Maths - Collecting relevant data from a visit to a local graveyard or a cemetery for testing a hypothesis.

*Design a Table - Involving diagrams, measurements, scale.

Go Further with Investigations

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: Collins Educational

A collection of 40 investigations designed for use with the whole class or smaller groups. It is aimed at upper KS2 but some activities may be adapted for use with more able children in lower KS2. It covers different curriculum areas of mathematics.

Starting Investigations

The forty student investigations in this book are non-sequential and focus mainly on the mathematical topics of addition, subtraction, number, shape and colour patterns, and money.

The apparatus required for each investigation is given on the student sheets and generally include items such as dice, counters, number cards and rods. The sheets are written using as few words as possible in order to enable students to begin working with the minimum of reading.

NRICH Primary Activities

Explore the NRICH primary tasks which aim to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. Lots of whole class open ended investigations and problem solving tasks. These tasks really get children thinking!

Mathematical reasoning: activities for developing thinking skills

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: SMILE

Problem Solving 2

Reasoning about numbers, with challenges and simplifications.

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: Department for Education

The home of mathematics education in New Zealand.

• Forgot password ?
• Teaching material
• Problem solving activities

Problem Solving

The Ministry is migrating nzmaths content to Tāhurangi.             Relevant and up-to-date teaching resources are being moved to Tāhūrangi (tahurangi.education.govt.nz).  When all identified resources have been successfully moved, this website will close. We expect this to be in June 2024.  e-ako maths, e-ako Pāngarau, and e-ako PLD 360 will continue to be available. 

For more information visit https://tahurangi.education.govt.nz/updates-to-nzmaths

This section of the nzmaths website has problem-solving lessons that you can use in your maths programme. The lessons provide coverage of Levels 1 to 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum. The lessons are organised by level and curriculum strand.  Accompanying each lesson is a copymaster of the problem in English and in Māori. 

Choose a problem that involves your students in applying current learning. Remember that the context of most problems can be adapted to suit your students and your current class inquiry. Customise the problems for your class.

• Level 1 Problems
• Level 2 Problems
• Level 3 Problems
• Level 4 Problems
• Level 5 Problems
• Level 6 Problems

The site also includes Problem Solving Information . This provides you with practical information about how to implement problem solving in your maths programme as well as some of the philosophical ideas behind problem solving. We also have a collection of problems and solutions for students to use independently.