I come from a game-playing family, and I think that’s why I’m so passionate about playing games, especially when it comes to helping build our kids’ math minds because games have such mathematical power.
Now let me start off with making this list is kind of difficult because it’s hard to pick games that work in a classroom setting. In my home, I know my kids, and even though I have four of them, it’s a whole lot easier to get games that work for those kids versus a whole classroom of kids. So, I tried to pick the games that would work and allow kids to play at whatever level they are at. These are games that I play with my five-year-old, all the way up to my 90-year-old grandma. These games our family loves but yet can still be played in a classroom setting.
Now, I’m also recording this around the time of the holidays, which always is on my mind. I’m thinking about what am I going to be getting for my kids and what am I gonna be getting for their teachers? So, I tried to keep that in mind as well that these are games that we stinking love in our household AND I know that any child would love these games, whether it’s in their home or in their classroom. So if you’ve got someone in mind that might enjoy these games, then think about it for a gift at any time of the year. So let’s get started.
Watch the video or read the transcript below:
Here are links to products/activities mentioned in this vlog. (Some may be affiliate links which just means that if you do purchase using my link, the company you purchased from sends me some money. Find more info HERE about that.)
Number Sandwiches
My first one is something that I call Number Sandwiches. And I think that I found this game actually in Constance Kamii’s book. I may get the reference incorrect. If I got that incorrect, you can post it in the comments, but I’m pretty sure it was from Constance Kamii. And basically, you can do this with a normal deck of cards, but I’m gonna show you with a little special deck.
This is my deck of cards that I’ve created and I’m a little partial to them. But I love this deck and I created them because I wanted to give kids visuals. And oftentimes, a regular deck of cards just does not give our kids a great visual. If you look at a deck of cards, especially for young learners, let’s say they see the card that is showing four, like the four of hearts. If they actually look at how many hearts are on that card, there’s actually six. So it doesn’t help connect the quantity that kids are seeing to the numeral. So, this deck of cards, I wanted to help kids see quantities in lots of different ways. This deck of cards is called Savvy Subitizing, and there’s a link below where you can download to print your own, but I also do sell them too.
These are for the numbers zero through 10, ’cause in a normal deck of cards, that’s usually the cards we’re dealing with. So it’s got the tally marks, it’s got the rekenrek (the red and white beads), it’s got finger patterns, it has the amount in a 10-frame, it has it with dot patterns, and it also has the digit.
So, kids see these in six different variations so that they can build these connections around numbers. That’s the basis of this deck of cards. You can take any card game that you play and replace it with this deck of cards, and it just takes it to the next level.
Even as adults, it’s a little bit difficult sometimes when you first get going to play the game, because we’re so used to looking at just the digits, and we really have to think about the quantity that’s being shown. So our first game that we’re gonna talk about, and not all the games use these cards, but the first game uses these cards, but you can really use a normal deck of cards.
So the idea of Number Sandwiches is that the partners are putting together sandwiches of cards, so two cards sandwiched together, that total a certain amount. Based upon whatever you want your child to be working on, or the students in your classroom, you have them make sandwiches based on a certain amount.
Let’s say the kids are working on pairs that would make 10, and you could do this with any number. So, this works even if you’re working with fractions. But let’s say they’re making 10. They work together to make these sandwiches and then one person holds the sandwich. Their partner can see one side. The other person sees the other side. Whoever’s showing the card, they’re showing it to the other person, and that person has to figure out what’s on the other side. If we know that all these sandwiches make 10, if they see a 4, they have to tell what’s on the other side. And then you can flip and show them.
Here’s another example. If this is what I’m showing them, but they know that the sandwich makes 10, what’s the other side of the sandwich? The other side of the sandwich is a five, and then we can show that. If you’re working with any kind of combination, and you could do this even with polynomial-type stuff, that you can make them using just three-by-five cards. I made these using bigger ones so that we could do it like as a whole class and it’s bigger so kids could see it. So, all of my number sandwiches are making one.
If I hold this up, and I want the kids to talk about what’s on the other side of that sandwich if this sandwich makes one whole, and then we want them hopefully to figure out that it’s 3/4ths. And you could do it with visuals. You could draw fraction visuals on here. You can really make these cards up to be whatever you want. So, the game is called Number Sandwiches, and you can make them around any mathematics content. All you need is some three-by-five cards. If you’re working with young kids, I really, really love the Savvy Subitizing Cards to give them those extra visuals to help them out, and not just the digits.
Wits & Wagers
Okay, my second favorite is one called Wits & Wagers. We have had this game for a really long time, and we play it a lot. We have lost a lot of the pieces. We kind of have to make things up as we go because we just lose things along the way because we use it so much.
Basically, the piece that I really love about it is that there isn’t a right answer. You read a question and everybody has to make a guess. And then, you place the bets, basically, you place a “wager” based upon who you think is closest without going over. And they are questions that nobody really knows the answer to. They’re not common things that you would know. So you have to use some estimation.
One of the examples I remember is, what percent of U.S. presidents have fought in a war? Like, I don’t know that. We don’t know the actual answer, but the idea is to get kids to understand that percentages are between zero and 100, and get to think, “Do you think it’s more than 50? Do you think it’s closer to 100? Is it closer to 20%?” All of that kind of stuff.
So they just make a guess. Even my five-year-old will make a random guess, and then the cool part is you lay out the guesses in order, so they get some practice with ordering and comparing numbers, and then the cool part is, this is the part I really love, is that even if their estimation was crazy, once they lay it out there and they see everybody else’s estimation, they don’t have to go with theirs. They get little meeples that you put onto the cards.
This is a picture here of that, of us playing it. You put your colored meeples onto the cards that you think are close. Your big meeple is worth two points and your small meeple is worth one point. You put your big meeple on one that you think is the best guess and then the smaller meeple on one that you’re like, “Well, it might also be this one.” So, you don’t even have to put it on your own card, which is what I love.
There are kids who are afraid sometimes to make guesses because they’re afraid they’re gonna be wrong. Even if they’re wrong, they don’t have to use their guess. They can put their meeple on somebody else’s guess that they think is closer. It’s a really fun game to help build their estimation, to learn some random knowledge sometimes. It’s also just a great family game that our entire family does play.
Sequence
Another favorite game, which we had kind of forget about, but then we found it over Thanksgiving here recently, is Sequence. Sequence is a great game, and there are a lot of different variations, but I really love the original Sequence or the one that has numerals.
There are Sequences where you can get just pictures, but I’m kind of partial to ones that have numerals because it builds at least some mathematical stuff, but the cool part about Sequence is it has some logic. It’s all about you have cards and then you place your little coins onto that card, the corresponding card, but there’s always two of that card, so you have to think and strategize about which one you’re gonna place it on. The goal is to get five in a row with your colored chips.
You really have to strategize not only where you’re placing yours to build your five in a row, but also to be blocking the other people. And again, we play this with our youngest kiddo who is five, and he’s able to play because it’s about matching and seeing the amounts, and then the strategy part we have to help him with a little bit, like, “Are you sure you want to maybe place it there? Let’s look where the other one is,” and which ones their best choice.
But, it’s a really simple game that everybody loves to play because of the strategy that’s involved. Sometimes when the mathematics is simple, a lot of older kids don’t want to play it because they think that it’s not very fun, but the strategy that’s involved with Sequence makes it an engaging game for any age of the person.
Tiny Polka Dot
A recent favorite of mine is a game that was created by my friend Dan Finkel, Tiny Polka Dot. At first, it looks like Subitizing Cards. The dots are on there and you can kind of think, “Oh, it’s a subitizing game,” but when you buy the actual deck of cards, it comes with 16 games that you can play.
But, the best part of these cards is once kids start playing around with them, let them come up with the games. The types of games and activities that you can do with these cards is really, really endless, but I love that Dan has included games for you to play just to get you started. The fun part of this game is let the kids play and explore with the cards and create their own games.
Go Fish
Now these last two are classic favorites. The first one is Go Fish, but I’m gonna do a little bit of a spin on it because the first spin I’m going to say is play Go Fish with the Subitizing Cards. It makes a world of difference playing with these cards than a normal deck of cards. But I’m going to also encourage you to have a variation on Go Fish.
My favorite variation is playing Make Something. So when kids are working on make 10, you can play Go Fish: Make 10. So if I have a six in my hand, I’m not going to be asking for a six, which is the traditional Go Fish, but instead we’re trying to make 10. So if I have a six, then I’m going to be asking for a four, and when I get that match, then I can put that down.
Then you can also take all of these cards that you had made for the Number Sandwiches, let’s say you were working on fractions, and instead of playing just Go Fish where you’re matching, now I can be Go Fish: Make 1.
So, if I have a 1/4, then I would be asking someone, “Do you have 3/4?” and then trying to play Go Fish that way. So think of variations on some of those classic games that kids are familiar with that you can make it a little bit more exciting and challenging for them.
Yahtzee
My last game is one of my favorites and my kids’ favorites, Yahtzee. It’s just fun to play, but kids of all levels can get something out of Yahtzee.
There’s a lot of strategy involved with Yahtzee, but even kids who are just counting, who are still counting to add, can play Yahtzee and get practice in that, versus if you have kids in your household (or classroom) who are working on multiplication, they are doing the same game, the same activity, but they start to think multiplicatively about the dice versus kids who are counting.
So, it’s great if you have a household or a classroom, where you have kids of lots of various levels. Yahtzee is a game that kids can be playing where they are at the moment, and as they progress with their mathematical understanding, they start to think differently and look at the dice differently.
If you don’t have Yahtzee, it’s a classic game that I think should be in any classroom and any home.
Now again, this is not an exhaustive list. This is just my top favorites at the moment, mainly because they are top of mine because we’ve been playing them in our house here recently and I wanted to make sure that if you’re not familiar with these games, that you are familiar, and you start playing them. Buy them for a teacher you know and love or a kid that you know and love. You’ll not be sorry.
It’s a great way to build their mathematical minds, but also, just a great time to interact and be social and have family time or get kids to learn how to interact with each other as they play games. All too often, kids just aren’t familiar with playing games anymore and I really want to bring that back because they’re just such a powerful way to interact as people, but the mathematics is also wonderful.
I hope this video has helped you build your math mind so you can build the math minds of your students. And don’t forget, all the links to the things that I mentioned are down below.
Here are links to products/activities mentioned in this vlog. (Some may be affiliate links which just means that if you do purchase using my link, the company you purchased from sends me some money. Find more info HERE about that.)
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Welcome! I’m a Recovering Traditionalist elementary teacher and now, I help teachers and children learn to love math. Explore how I can help provide you PD at your fingertips! BuildMathMinds.com