Answer by MegH · Apr 07, 2014 at 11:33 AM
We found a great resource online - maths games to play with a regular deck of playing cards. Some are lots of fun and we play them all the time, other were not so good, but we tried all of them. http://www.pedagonet.com/quickies/acingmaths.pdf
For practicing addition, my 8 year old boy loves Sleeping Queens.
My three year old likes Bus Stop, and my older child calls out the running total of passengers on the bus as they play.
Sleeping Queens is a favourite at our house too. Rat-a-Tat Cat is another card game made by the same company.
Answer by Shannon · Apr 10, 2014 at 06:06 AM
My children are 11, 9, and 7. Some of our favorite quick games are 1-2 Nim and Pig. We often play these while waiting for food at a restaurant (I have a dice rolling app on my phone for Pig). We also really like Hex, and playing with polyominoes and tangrams. We use lots of games which are not overtly math-y. We enjoy strategy games like chess (try Hive for a fun two-player game), logic games (like Guess Who), patterning games (like Set and Qwirkle), visual discrimination games (like Spot It), and a whole host of others (Dominion, Mancala, Frog Juice, Cribbage, Blokus, Battle Ship, MAsterMind, Sudoku, Chocolate Fix, Settlers of Catan, Lost Cities, Labyrinth). Some use computation/arithmetic, some use logic/sequencing, some use geometric/spatial reasoning, but all build problem solving skills!
Answer by juggling_ginny · Apr 09, 2014 at 01:14 AM
My daughter loves Rumikub, which is great for strategy. We've also got 'The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game' which involves a fair bit of maths. Then there is Equate, which is a bit like mathematical scrabble and can be played at different levels. Any game which requires scoring (eg nomination whist) can be a good motivator to practise simple arithmetic skills. If I want my daughter to practise a particular skill, I often just make up a game - she loves games so we play a lot.
Answer by Kristin · Apr 08, 2014 at 02:03 PM
I try to avoid most technology ( I know heresy) but in the past we have used games from coolmath.com Coffee stand and lemonade stand were favorites. We play board games like monopoly and life which include some basic addition/subtraction. But overall I think we may be sadly lacking in the math "fun" games department. This was a great question which is prompting me to think of games we can use.
Answer by Agsterling · Apr 08, 2014 at 10:20 AM
I really love this app called Dragon Box. My 8 year olds ate this up and I love the conceptual playing going on with balancing equations and algebraic thinking.
Another game I love to watch kids play is called Gamebone. Sure it's a hundreds chart.. Just watching it gives you and your child insights into how they see quantity. I have one who needs a lot of practice with this and it is a great low stress game.
Answer by Zebrina · Apr 08, 2014 at 10:20 AM
We play Pokemon which has simple addition, subtraction and multiplication, and the card game 'War' with the products of 2 cards.
Answer by Denise Gaskins · Apr 07, 2014 at 08:23 PM
I've posted several games on my math blog. You might find one that you like:
Answer by seb612 · Apr 07, 2014 at 02:31 PM
My son is technology obsessed, so he LOVES everything computer based. He can spend hours just on Kahn Academy. I did find this site on Pinterest, however, with a huge variety of ideas.
http://creeksidelearning.com/2014/01/19/hands-on-math-2nd-3rd-4th-grade/
Answer by Elizabeth02 · Apr 07, 2014 at 01:41 PM
My son made up a game around axis and allies that we play verbally only on walks or hikes. You could change it as interests dictate. Each player is given $100 to buy their supplies (like tanks, battleships, etc). Then, for example, the tank fires at the battleship, but only hits if the tank gets the correct answer to the battleship players math question. My son made this game up and does love it, but it could be changed entirely for different kids and interest.
Answer by Jen · Apr 07, 2014 at 12:22 PM
Chocolate fix board game seems to be a popular one... even my three-year-old son likes it, but, of course, I have to assist and differentiate to make it work for such a young child.
Answer by Sblair · Apr 07, 2014 at 11:33 AM
I have load an addition game for my son on I pad. Adam Dream numbers nightmare, a boy runs through the forest collecting items and fighting characters with addition problems to defeat them. Farmers market, this deals with simple money problems using cents, dollar amount in 5 dollar increments. QD math, a knight walks around a castle defeating guards with addition problems, the quicker you answer the more points you collect. All free apps from ITunes.