I’ve always enjoyed tying in fun games to learning with my younger kids. This helps to set up their learning career for success. So with my youngest little guy, I have tried a few different things to help him learn math skills without really telling him he’s actually learning them. It’s been a huge success because when we sit down to do our “formal” lessons, he’s already honed in on these skills in creative ways—resulting in confidence as he approaches his math lessons, which then leads to motivation to continue on.
Homeschool Math Made Fun
Learning and fun don’t always go hand in hand. And it’s hard to come up with ideas when you aren’t that creative in the first place. Let’s face it, in an overly idea-filled social media feed—we can often become overwhelmed with ideas and end up doing none of them. So go ahead and bookmark this post so you can come back to it for a few ideas on making math fun at home.
Math Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunt is about solving clues and finding the next item on the list, until you reach your destination! Tie in math skills by creating math problems as the clues along the way that your kiddo needs to solve in order to move on to the next.
Play Monopoly
Monopoly is a great game to play to help practice lots of great skills. Math is a major one of course. Not only do they practice addition as they move along the board, but they also practice money skills and critical thinking skills.
Flashlight Math
Every kid loves a flashlight (or even a laser light would work!). Lay out flashcard numbers 1-20. Write a math problem down, and have them flash the light on the correct answer.
War
Grab a deck of cards. You can use just about any deck that has numbers on it. If you use a traditional deck of cards, be sure to assign value to the Ace, Jack, Queen, and King.
Have two of your kiddos, or you can do it with them too, flip the card over. Depending on the math skill (or skills) you are practicing (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) have them work the problem. For example, if you throw down a 5 and your kiddo throws down an 8, and you’re working on addition skills—have them add the numbers up. At the end of the game whoever gets the most correct wins! Take them out for an ice cream treat or let them pick then next movie for family night!
Take Them Grocery Shopping
Something as simple as telling them that you have two apples at home but need a total of 8 for this recipe. Ask them then how many do you need? Then let them go pick out the apples that are needed!
Splash Math
Splash Math is new to us. They were gracious enough to give me a full year access and we have been loving it. I love how it’s challenged my little guy to practice new skills and have continual practice on skills he’s already developed. Fun and learning combined is a total win in my book at this age!
Math Bingo
Create a bingo board and make a list of math problems. On the board you should have the answers to each one. Read them out and have your kiddo place a space marker on the board as they figure out each answer. First one to get BINGO wins!
Online Homeschool Math Program
As I mentioned above, my friends at Splash Math are amazing. Go try out their FREE trial—get some fun math learning in and see if you like it! It’s so much fun and engaging!
You can hang out with Splash Math on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube. Follow them on Pinterest for inspiration and lots of fun!