Number Games!

   I remember so clearly being a student in Elementary School and dreading math class. I had this terrible fear of math and "being wrong" that I guarded myself from math throughout my entire life as a student. So, when I started teaching school I felt this strong desire to make math fun. This pushed me to really think outside of the box when teaching math, so that I could reach all different learners, the way I wish someone had done for me.
   I had a student a few years ago, who had severe behavioral issues. Math caused such anxiety in him that he would lash out, and I totally empathized! To help with the anxiety, I started calling math time "number games" and it eased him immensely! I had to make sure to teach these different standards with a variety of math games and also the given district materials. It was a challenge I greatly enjoyed.

That said, here I am at home with Penelope pulling in these little games to build her confidence with numbers and expose her to a variety of learning styles.

I happen to have a few math board games that I made over the years, but they are easy to make at home! 
                       Numbers Game Board

1. Using a large piece of construction paper (or even taking two pieces of regular size paper together!) draw large shapes- the board I have pictured has rain drops just for a fun visual, but you could make circles, squares, flowers, clouds, whatever your little one might like! 
2. Write different numbers in the shapes. I went from 1-8 but you can go much higher or stay lower
3. Encourage your child to join in on the fun and decorate around the shapes on the "game board". If your child is older, they could work on writing the numbers themselves, or even tracing them! 
4. My board is laminated, but no need to do that. If you want it to keep, you can always use packaging tape across the top. 

*We used pennies as game board chips (beans work great too!) and made out own larger dice. To make the larger dice, I took two of her wooden building blocks. I put painters tape on each side and used a marker to draw the dots. This made it more fun to play and easier to read.*

The game I played with Penelope was just a number recognition game. She rolled the dice, counted the dots, looked for the rain drop with that number and placed a penny in that rain drop. As soon as she was tired of that game, we moved on! 

However, with older kids, you could do so many fun things. This could be a number recognition game, an addition/subtraction game, fact families and more. 
   *A piece of paper for them to write down the addition problems they are doing (they don't always realize they are doing addition when counting up those dots!) is a great way to assess their understanding. For example, Penelope rolled 3 and 5 so she could write on her paper (I would not have her do this!) 3+5=8. Want to take it to another level? Have them do the fact family! 5+3=8, 3+5=8, 8-3=5, 8-5=3)

Common Core Standards

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4  (Kindergarten) 
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.NBT.A.1 (Kindergarten) 
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.1 (First)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.B.1 (First) 
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.5 (First)
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.6 (First)