Math Games That Teach

My Y5’s really enjoyed Tummy Time and hauling out a tub of manipulatives to “play” with.

I put that word in quotations because they thought they were playing, but in reality, they were reinforcing a huge number of math skills as well as strengthening their upper body, by being on their tummies and working on exercising those fine motor skills as well, which helped to strengthen their finger muscles, that is so important in developing their ability to write.

One of their favorite tubs was the tanagram pattern blocks.  I had a variety of puzzle-sheets for them to fill in , by placing the colorful tanagram blocks on them, as well as a variety of patterning strips for them to complete.

I like making up monthly activities that follow the same format, because it empowers students, as once they’ve played a game, or learned the directions, they can get down to business to practice the skill.

This builds their self-esteem, they get better at the activity, and the teacher is freed up to work one-on-one with struggling students, or do assessing, because other children can work independently because they know what to do.

I decided to make some monthly tanagram pattern block sheets that involved dice, as number recognition is a skill that the Y5’s needed to acquire.

Students can play independently, with a partner, or in groups of 2 to 4.

Whatever number they roll, they trace that tanagram piece, the tanagram’s number, and then place the tanagram over that piece.

You can also have students color their papers to match the real tanagrams.

The first child to complete their seasonal tanagram picture, by rolling all of the numbers and covering them, is the winner.

Click on the link to view/download Pattern Block Tanagrams on a Roll Dice Game

I hope you enjoy adding this game to your bag of tricks.

Do you have one you can share with us?  I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or feel free to leave a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas.

You may also PIN anything on my site that you think will help others. I truly feel life is all about sharing.  Just think how easy our teaching would be, if everyone took the time to post just one thing on the internet that turned the light bulb on for kids!

Have a great day and may all your puzzles be fun to solve!