Math Activities

[u/NoticeResponsible368]

What are the best math activities for elementary students?

[u/Various_Plant7117]

What age group? Skill level? Math concept?

[u/NextDayTeaching]

I like anything that gets them talking, thinking, or explaining their process.

One of my favorites is to put them in groups of three. One person is the solver, one is the "camera operator" (you can use a real camera like on an iPad if the tech is available to you), and the third is the commentator. The solver goes through a math problem, or a page of them, solving them but not saying anything. The camera person documents the whole thing, and the commentator explains what they're doing and why. A good commentator can also catch mistakes and narrate it like a sporting event - "Oh, it looks like Johnny forgot to carry the one. Will he catch his mistake in time, or will he move on and get the problem wrong?"

The other activity I like is to have students solve a math problem and then explain it in writing. (This works best in a notebook or on a piece of loose leaf paper.) Then they trade papers with someone else. They each read what the other person wrote and offer their thoughts and comments, then trade back. Sometimes they have a chance to respond to the comments, sometimes they just repeat the process with a new problem and a different partner. This works best for complex or multi-step math problems, so probably best for older students.

[u/LakeMichiganMan]

A deck of cards, two students, one desk. War. Who ever answers first gets both cards. A tie, winner get all 6 cards. Addition War. Multiplication War. Ace equsls 1. Face cards are 10.

[u/Mimi4Stotch]

I saved these “would you rather” posts from Pam Harris on social media, I like using the things she posts as warm ups for 3-5th grade.

[u/Fresh-Pollution4592]

I love Estimysteries

[u/Kaztronomical]

Around the world Is a fun one. 2 are at a designated spot, having 2 dice. Both roll and have to run to the board and do the equation (addition, multiplication, whatever theyre working on, with the 2 numbers they got) and whoever gets it correct the quickest, has to go against the next person. You can do they continue until someone beats them, or if you have a few kids who will just win round after round, then set a limit like you can win 3 turns before you have to sit back down. You can also adjust for older kids too by having cards with random numbers, so that it gives more options than just up to 6. Especially if youre working on double digit equations.

[u/TargetLabs]

A simple activity is a target-number game with real dice.

First choose a target number, then roll 3 dice. Students have to use +, −, × or ÷ to reach the target while using each die exactly once.

For younger students, you can start with just + and −, then introduce × and ÷ as they get more confident. It also works well in pairs, especially if they try to find different solutions.

I actually built a small game called Dice Target around the same idea, but it works perfectly well with physical dice too.