Resources in this page include board games & card games, manipulatives, and books.

Board Game & Card Games

Number Sense (recommended age: 2-5)

Snail’s Pace

  • The very first board game for young children:  it introduces children to basic rules such as turn-taking, patience, dice-rolling and piece movement.
  • Players roll the dice to move the snails forward along their color path until they reach the last spot in their color.
  • Math elements: counting, color-matching, spacial comparison, memory.

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

  • Spin the spinner, pick up the matching acorn; collect one acorn of each color first and win. 
  • You could spin “lose an acorn” or “steal an acorn”.
  • Math elements: color matching, enumeration.

First Orchard

  • A coorperative game: if the players harvest all the fruit before the raven reaches the orchard, they win together! If the raven gets there first, they lose together.
  • Roll the dice and collect the color matching fruits in the basket. You could roll “raven advances one step”.
  • Math elements: team working, color matching, enumeration, spacial comparison, anticipating remaining steps/items.

Shelby’s Snack Shack 

  • Spin the spinner to fill your dog bowl with the number of bones you spun.
  • Collect the most bones, and you win.
  • Math elements: numbers recognition, displaying a specific number of items, enumeration, quantity comparison (who has more),

Hi Ho! Cherry-O

  • Spin the spinner to pick cherries, blueberries, apples, and oranges from their trees to fill their baskets.
  • The first player to fill all ten spots wins.
  • Math elements: numbers recognition, displaying a specific number of items, enumeration, addition, subtraction.

Simple Addition and Subtraction (recommended grade: k-2)

Sum Swamp

  • Race through the swamp while solving single-digit addition, subtraction, even/odd problems.
  • The shortcurt and endless loop make the game more interesting.
  • Math elements: reading numbers, addition, subtraction, even/odd numbers.

Rat A Tat Cat

  • Players take turn to pull a card to replace one of their own four cards, they must keep track of the values of their four cards. The player with the smallest value of the four cards win.
  • Players learn ways to remember their cards and strategies to figure out what cards other players might have. They also begin to develop an intuitive sense of probability. 
  • Math elements: addition (0-9), memory, evaluating probability, number comparison.

Sleeping Queens

  • Rescue the queens with kings, fight off the dragons with knights. The player who rescues 40 points of queen cards first wins.
  • To disgard number cards and draw king/knights/dragon cards, players need to find equal values by adding multiple cards. They also need to keep track of the total value of their queen cards by adding multiplies of 5 (adding 5s, 10s, 15s, or even 20)
  • Math elements: addition (0-9, and 5, 10, 15, and 20), adding more than two numbers.

 I Sea 10!

  • Race to find combinations of numbers that make 10.
  • The player with the most 10s wins.
  • Math elements: addition (making 10)

Tiny Polka Dot

  • A collection of cards with numbers represented in different ways.
  • Sixteen easy-to-learn games played with cards.
  • Math elements: counting, enumeration, matching, addition, comparison.

Math Swatters

  • Swat the answer cards to addition/subtraction questions. Or swat the addition/subtraction cards that match the answers.
  • Players need to be correct and fast=fluency.
  • Math elements: addition (0-9), subtraction (0-9)

Place Value, Spacial Reasoning, Logical Reasoning (recommended grade: 1-3)

Rack-O

  • Place cards in your rack in order, slot 50 down to 5. Turn over top card from the stockpile. Continue taking cards in turn, exchanging for cards in your rack.
  • Players must have all ten cards in their racks from a low card in the #5 slot to a high card in the #50 slot. The first play who achieves the correct order wins.
  • Math elements: place value, number comparison, estimation, sense of probability.

Even Steven’s Odd!

  • Players race to complete math challenges with dice: roll all even numbers, roll two sets of 2,4,6, roll all six dice that they add up to 36, etc.
  • Difficulty levels of the game can be adjusted by using only certain challenge cards. Suitable for age 3-10.
  • Math elements: subitizing (recognizing numbers presented in the dotted format), even and odd, addition.

GO GO Gelato

  • Pass the scoops between the cones to match your customer’s orders first. Use logic to plan the most efficient strategy.
  • Perfect beginner logic game for children.
  • Math elements: logical thinking

Addition and Subtraction over 10 (recommended grade: 2-5)

Zeus on the Loose

  • Players keep adding number cards to the make the sum exactly 100. Use strategy cards to bring the sum to the closest multiplies of 10, or to 99, or reverse the two digits, etc.
  • Grab the Zeus whenever the sum reaches multiplies of 10.
  • Math elements: addition, subtraction, place value, rounding, number comparison.

Clumsy Thief 

  • Players look for any two cards that add to $100 to make money stacks. Money stacks can be added or taken with a card that makes $100 when added to the top card of a stack.
  • Thief cards also snatch stacks. Jail cards stop Thief cards. All players are actively adding and snatching.
  • Math elements: adding to 100, addition of multiple numbers with sum over 1000 (when they calculate the final score)

Race to Infinity

  • Add or subtract numbers on two dice to make your move. Collect money if you land on a money spot. Then race to the infinity spot.
  • You can upgrade the game to allow multiplying and dividing the two numbers rolled. Strategically choose the operation that leads to the number that helps to land on a money spot.
  • Math elements: addition, subtraction, multiplication (optional), division (optional), number comparison.

Ticket to Ride

  • Collect train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. Earn additional points by building longer routes, fulfilling your Destination Tickets and building the longest continuous railway.
  • The longer your routes are, the more points they worth. Think strategically about what color of train cards you pick and use.
  • Math elements: addition (possibly over 100), subtraction, logical thinking.

Multiplication and Division (recommended graded: 3-5, fun for adults too!)

Prime Climb

  • Race to 100 by multiplying, dividing, adding, or subtracting numbers.
  • Prime number spots lead to special moves.
  • Math elements: prime numbers, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, factorization.

Sushi Go!

  • Grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for making the most maki rolls or for collecting a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value.
  • There are more strategies than luck in this game.
  • Math elements: multiplication, addition, subtraction.

QWIXX

  • Roll the dice and strategically choose which number to cross off. The more numbers you cross off, the more you score.
  • Calculate your final score by multiplying and adding points based on the numbers you cross off.
  • Math elements: multiplication, addition, subtraction.

Go Nuts for Donuts

  • Secretly bid on the donut you want. If you are the only person to pick it, you win the donut. But if anyone slese chose it too, no one gets it.
  • Add up your donuts for your total score.
  • Math elements: multiplication, addition, evaluating probability.

Fractions (recommended graded: 3-5, fun for adults too!)

Math Stacks Fraction Equivalence

  • Each fraction is represented in four ways: numerical, group, pie chart, and number line.
  • Take turns to find various ways to represent a fraction and collect all four representations as a stack.
  • Can adjust difficulty level by removing the more difficult representations. (The pie chart cards are most challenging.)
  • The person with the most stacks wins.
  • Math elements: definition of fraction, plotting fractions on a number line, equivalent fractions.

Fraction War

  • Each fraction is shown with a pictoral form for visual clue.
  • Each fraction is also given its common equivalent fractions for easy comparison with other fractions.
  • The person with the bigger fraction wins.
  • Math elements: definition of fraction, equivalent fractions, fraction comparison.

Manipulatives

Foam Dice

  • Substitute: printable dice
  • Math Activities: subitizing, simple addition, introducing multiplication.

Linking Cubs

  • Substitute: Lego, Mega blocks
  • Math Activities: counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place value.

Pocket Cubes

  • Substitute: printable dice
  • Math Activities: These are dice that can hold any inserts, so there is no limit to what they can be used for.

Hundred Pocket Chart

  • Substitute: there are many forms and sizes of hundred charts, anyone with removable numbers will work.
  • Math Activities: number sense, place value, counting, addtion, subtraction.

Place Value Blocks/Sticks

  • Substitute: bundles of straws (use rubber band to bundle up 10 straws), stacks of legos, bundles of tooth picks, ziplock bags of blocks/marbles.
  • Math Activities: place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication.

Multiplication Wrap-Ups Key

  • Substitue: flash cards (not as effective though)
  • Math Activities: multiplication facts fluency (memorizing multiplication table)

Books

Numerous children’s books explore themes related to counting, addition, or subtraction. We have chosen not to include them in this list simply because there are too many available, and they can be easily found through online searches or at your local library. Instead, the following list predominantly comprises collections of books provde high level of interactive learning experiences.

For Children and Adults Together

Spot the Differences

  • There are “spot the differences” books from various authors, you can find pages with this activity in Highlights magazines, or find such pictures online.
  • Math elements: observation skills, which is vital for children’s math learning. Because they need to observe patterns and visual representations during their development of number sense.

Bedtime Math

  • Inside this book, families will find fun, mischief-making math problems to tackle—math that isn’t just kid-friendly, but actually kid-appealing. With over 100 math riddles on topics from jalapeños and submarines to roller coasters and flamingos.
  • For each story, there are three levels of challenge/questions (wee ones, little kids, and big kids), which are suitable for children from preschools to 3rd grade).

The Incredible Math Games Book 

  • This “book” is a collection of six interactive math games on number sense, geometry, addition, subtraction, etc. It comes with dice and chips to play the games.
  • Rules for the games are simple and very easy to understand. Each game lasts 5-10 minutes. Perfect for 4-9 years old who like to pick their own games and have some fun while learning math concepts.

For Adults

Arithmetic For Parents

  • The only book that talks to parents (instead of teachers) about children’s math learning.
  • It reinforces the importance of indepth understanding of mathematics, and states that the secret to its teaching is in understanding the deep points in elelmentary mathematics.

Well Played, Grades K-2

  • Through 25 games and puzzles, this book shows you how to incorperated fun into learning.
  • For each game, there are explanations of how it supports student learning and variations of the game to address a range of learning level and styles.

Well Played, Grades 3-5

  • Structured similarly as the book for K-2, this book covers the math skills of addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, mixed operations, and fractions.

It Makes Sense! Using the Hundreds Chart to Build Number Sense

  • Twenty hands-on, interactive lessons and games using the hundred chart.
  • Include math skills of place value, addition, and subtraction.

Math Games for Number and Operations and Algebraic Thinking

  • Thirty three games that can be played by learners on their own or in a group.
  • Each game includes key questions and learning targets to promote thinking.

Number Sense Routines: Building Numerical Literacy Every Day

  • Based on the findings that “Students with strong number sense understand numbers, how to subitize, relationships among numbers, and number systems. They make reasonable estimates, compute fluently, use reasoning strategies, and use visual models to solve problems.” This book provides daily warm-ups that target at developing number sense and building math minds.

Beyond Pizzas and Pies

  • 10 strategies to help 3rd-5th graders to develop a deep and flexible understanding of fractions.
  • Addresses common misconceptions about fractions.
  • Includes research results, teaching strategies, hands-on activities, and reproducible activity sheets.

Beyond Invert & Multiply

  • Includes explanations on the math reasonings for all the fraction computation algorithms, as well as activities that help children to make sense of the algorithms.
  • Address common misconceptions about fraction computation.
  • Includes research results, teaching strategies, hands-on activities, and reproducible activity sheets.