Thursday, February 28, 2013

Teacher Tip Thursday - Making Maths Games

Well it has been a very busy and somewhat disheartening week.

Firstly my main USB storage device was left in the computer overnight - and we had wild storm and weather which resulted in our house having a blackout. The result - power surge through computer and fried USB with no way to recover data :(

But it is

Making maths games for your class doesn't have to mean lots of printing and laminating. You can also create some really great games with things you find in the local $2 shop. This game that I am going to share with you cost me a grand total of about $6.

So what do you need? I bought some plastic shot glasses, some small craft sticks (you could use match sticks too) and some little plastic ziplock bags (snack size fit this game perfectly).

I divided the glasses into groups of ten and then stuck a label onto each one with numbers 1-10 (I didnt include 0 but you could!) Then I put about 50 sticks into the bag.
 I made 5 sets of these, but I did each set of numbers in a different colour, so that WHEN kids don't pack up properly and I find the cups on the floor later, I can return them to the correct set.
Here are all my little sets in a big plastic folder .

 The kids sort all the cups onto the table and then place the correct amount of sticks into the cups, as determined by the number. I have some students who are still struggling with numeral ID so I am actually going to add a second sticker that has dots on it, so that they can participate in this activity and build their number knowledge too.
For my capable students I was asking them to order the numbers too. For those who could do that, I was getting them to order them in descending order too.

Because the activity it very hands on, my kids found this one extremely engaging. As we progress, I will make another set of cups for numbers 11-20 and just switch out the old cups.

I hope you have enjoyed this tip and go and do some $2 store shopping on the weekend to create your own version of this game :)


  1. I absolutely LOOOOOVE $2 shops, so much so that I often spent close to $100 on $2 things lol

    This is a great activity for rotations and I might just 'borrow' this activity for next week.

    Thanks Brooke - you always have the best ideas!

    Lifelong Learners in Prep

    1. Thanks Casey - you're giving me a big head but appreciate your kind words.

  2. Firstly, sooooooo bummed that you could not salvage anything from your USB!! Let me know if I can send you ANYTHING!! Secondly ... love your activity and am filing this into my future file in case I ever get to teach Kinder! What a week for you :S Hope your weekend is full of sunshine and smiles, Brooke!! Xx

    1. Thanks Tina. Its not as bad as it could be - my last backup was just after Xmas so I have most stuff. I am bummed about the Kinder stuff I created in the holidays but it could be much worse.

  3. Sorry about your USB. Isn't it great that some of the simple ideas are the most engaging. Definitely pinning this!
    Mrs Poultney's Ponderings

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  6. Oh no! So sorry to hear about your USB. Something so simple can send you in a spin... Good luck downloading everything again - fingers crossed you don't have a file that you just want to add one more activity too, or change a page.... :(

    Teaching Maths with Meaning