Enjoy math hands-on with these 25+ DIY math games for elementary students! Use these to teach fractions, multiplication, addition, and more!
25+ DIY Math Games for Elementary Students
Games are some of my favorite ways to learn! They make learning more fun, and some can show the practical side of what students are learning. Here are 25+ math games you can put together in minutes! All are free or low-cost to create, too!
Jellybean Jumble – Mum in the Madhouse
Create your own “shop” of jellybeans complete with prices and customers. Watch your little ones add the prices up and if the totals are correct you’ll have a winner! This blog includes many extensions to make the game easier or more difficult depending on the age of your kids.
Division Bingo: Answers as Fractions – Math Geek Mama
Division and fractions are often used in our everyday lives. Combine the two with these free five Bingo cards.
Math Paper Fortune Tellers – Kid Activities Blog
Review fractions or times tables with your kids with this simple game. Not only is it easy to construct, but you can customize the mathematical category and skill set!
Polar Bear Math Game For Kids – The Educators’ Spin On It
This game adds some motor movement and helps kids develop good counting skills. Encourage your kids to find new number patterns and customize your iceberg numbers to count by 1’s, 10’s, 20’s, etc.
Car Parking Lot Math Grid Game – Life Over C’s
Kids take turns rolling the die and counting out the toy cars. Whoever fills their parking lot first wins!
Clothespin Math – Mess for Less
Number cups, paper, or another object and teach your child to place the correct number of clothespins on each object. Not only are they learning to count, but also utilizing their fine motor skills by opening the clothespins.
DIY Wooden Math Dice – The Imagination Tree
Place different numbers and mathematical signs on wooden dice so that your child can jumble them up and roll them in order to create a new problem to solve.
Skip Counting by 5 – Simply Kinder
Make this game in a few minutes, and reuse for hours of skip counting! Use popsicle sticks in this game, and there are many options for play for different levels.
Play Dough Subtraction Smash – Mama. Papa. Bubba.
Make balls out of playdough and your own set of cards with subtraction problems. Then have your child smash the playdough balls that you need to “take away”. It’s simple, hands-on, and fun for the kids.
Domino Addition – Better Than Homework
Simply use your household set of dominoes to set out for the kids and watch them add up each side of the domino to find their solution. An easy and impactful at home math game.
Fun Bottle Top Addition Game – Learn with Play at Home
Upcycle bottle caps for this simple and fun math game you can play at home! Have your child create their own masterpiece with the bottle caps and then trace them to create the layout of the game. Then start rolling the dice and adding up with the objective of the game being to fill your “picture” back up with bottle caps!
Whack It! Place Value Game – Creekside Learning
Follow the instructions to create your own whack it layout and start hitting the numbers! Test your kids on their knowledge of place value while having fun. Read also: 20+ Hands-on Ways to Teach Place Value
Math Facts Baseball – Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Use this simple game to learn the basics of addition and subtraction. The kids will love that they get to learn math on the baseball field!
Jelly Bean Math – Natural Beach Living
Learn how to estimate with this fun jelly bean math game.
Use the fun game of twister to learn basic math problems and find the solutions to them! The kids will love moving around for this educational activity.
Count Your Dots – Teach Beside Me
This game is a little more complex, but allows the kids to learn the basics of multiplication with only a deck of cards and a scrap piece of paper! Read also: 20+ Ways to Teach Hands-on Multiplication and Division
Geometry Vocabulary Game – Reflections and Resources
This isn’t your typical math game, but is something easy to do at home and a specific type of math that all middle school students need to master. Make it fun with this game!
Mental Math Game – Lesson Plan Diva
Use popsicle sticks to set up this simple math game that allows your kids to master their mental math skills!
Fraction Game with Connect 4 – No Time for Flashcards
Take out your connect four game and pieces and create the perfect way to learn fractions. Read also: 30+ Hands on Ways to Teach Fractions
Lego Fraction Games – JDaniel4’s Mom
Help your kids set up their legos to start this fun and simple game that teaches fractions. This link includes more than one game that can work with your lego set up!
Lego Math Ten Frame Games – Lalymom
Keep up the ten frame activities that your kids are learning at school at home with this lego set up!
PIG Dice Game – What Do We Do All Day?
This is a little more complex of an at home math game, but it helps the kids learn how to count to 100 and keep track of numbers.
Towers Up! – Be the Thread
Use a dice to keep this game going and build your towers higher up to win! A simple and effective math game for first and second graders.
Add It Up! – Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Throw a beach ball around that you customize with your own numbers to teach addition to the kids this year!
Another game for the older kids, but simple as well. Use a pen and paper to set up a number line and start the game to strengthen your mathematical and critical thinking skills!
Egg Carton Shake Up! – Relief Teaching Ideas
This simple math game helps you reuse egg cartons and learn the basics of addition or subtraction! Customize it to your skill level and have fun while learning!
Math Games with Candy – Learn Play Imagine
Learn skip counting and so much more with these few simple math games that the kids will love to complete since they can enjoy it as a snack afterward!
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i want to learn
Hi Samantha,
Thank you for a great post and all of the fun ways to learn math with games. I currently unschool/homeschool 4 boys and we are always looking for fun ways to learn and spend time together. I agree that learning with games is a lot more fun and I find that my kids are a lot more engaged and excited to learn this way. Books don’t really work for us and each time I try to incorporate them I completely lose them. So I continue to find fun and creative ways of learning for them and myself. My boys and I enjoyed playing towers up and we plan on trying the rest of the games. I will definitely be back to share on that as well.
Great post and I will be sharing this!!!
Hi Samantha. I need help with 4 th grade math and English language arts. Is there specific cheat sheets or work problems or games. You can send me. So I can help my child to get better grades and learn by having fun.
This is a fun way for kids to learn math. Thanks for this!