Math Games

There are many math games that we play at school that can also be played at home.  Many of the games that we play are used to support and strengthen children's quick recall of math facts.  Today we played a game called Penny Plate.  All you need is 10-20 pennies and a small plastic/paper plate.  The skill that this teaches is sums to ten or twenty.

Directions:
1.  Player 1 turns the plate upside down.  Then hides some of the pennies under the plate and puts the remaining pennies on top of the plate.

2.  Player 2 counts the pennies on top of the plate and uses that number to determine  how many pennies are hidden under the plate.

Ask your child what strategy they are using to figure out the answer.  "How did you know?"  "What did you do to figure that out."  These questions encourage them to think about their mathematical thinking and to communicate it to another person.  (This is a skill that we work on a lot in second grade.)

Enjoy playing math games together!