As a teacher, I would often get questions from parents, such as “Is it really important for my kids to know their math facts quickly?” Yes, it really is. What so many of us forget is how much we use those skills in the upper grades and throughout high school. Students first begin to understand the importance of math facts when they learn long division. They are multiplying, dividing, and subtracting all within one division problem. If children do not have a firm grasp of their math facts, these new math strategies and skills become more and more difficult with each passing year.
Flashcard games are a great way to learn your math facts and have a little fun. The other day I was so surprised when my daughter asked if I would practice her math facts with her rather than doing the online program she normally uses. She explained that it is more fun to “just spend time with your mom.” I am so glad I took the time out of my busy day to play some fun games with my daughter! So, break out those flashcard games from your childhood and have fun practicing your math facts!
Build a Number Sentence
Addition and Subtraction
This exercise is a great one to start with if your child is just beginning addition or subtraction. It will help him or her visualize what is happening to numbers when they are added or subtracted. Choose ten addition or subtraction flashcards and place them in a pile.
- Using counting objects such as cereal, Legos, pennies, rocks, or any tiny countable tiny objects, have your child create a number sentence for each flashcard.
- You can also take it a step further and have him or her write out the number sentence and answer.
- If your child is ready, ask him or her to use the number sentence to write a word problem. He or she can even illustrate it! This transferring of number sentences into word sentences is a wonderful way to exercise critical thinking skills. (Plus you can squeeze in a little writing and spelling practice, as well!)
Example:
7-2=5OOOOOOO
Bella had seven cookies. She ate two of them. How many does she have left?
Multiplication and Division
If your child is practicing multiplication and division, have him or her demonstrate with counters what is happening to the numbers when you multiply and divide.
- In multiplication, we want to know the total groups of numbers. Have your child build an array for a multiplication problem. When you are first learning multiplication, choose beginning facts such as 1s, 2s, and 5s.
Example: 2×5=10
2 by 5 array (2 rows by 5 columns)
XXXXX
XXXXX
2+2+2+2+2=10
- Division is simply repeated subtraction and is the reverse of multiplication. In division we want to divide the total into smaller groups, and the answer is how many smaller groups there are. (Modeling with counters should only be done with division problems that do not have remainders.)
Example: 12÷3=?
(Divide 12 into 3 equal groups)
Start with 12
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
(Can you create equal groups?) (How many equal groups?)
XXX XXX XXX XXX
4 equal groups of 3 were created so…
12÷3=4
War
This flashcard game can be played with any addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division flashcards.
- Shuffle a deck of flashcards and deal out all the cards between two players.
- Each player turns a card over at the same time and solves it.
- The player with the highest answer wins and collects the cards.
- When the players are out of cards, the player with the most cards wins.
Math Families
This flashcard activity takes a slightly different approach to practicing math facts, and the number fluency required helps children build a strong math foundation. It can be played with one or more players. You will need either multiplication and division flashcards or addition and subtraction flashcards.
- Start with a stack of two decks of addition and subtraction flashcards.
- Match up the addition cards with the corresponding subtraction cards that make up a fact family. (When playing for the first time, separate out a small set of fact families for a total of 20 flashcards. Once your child understands the game you can begin to include more cards.)
- You may also play this game with multiplication and division flashcards. Using a stack of multiplication and division cards, have your child match up the cards that create math families such as: 3×5=15 and 5×3=15; 15÷3=5 and 15÷5=3.
Maze
A single player or multiple players can play these games.
- Scatter flashcards around a room in a random order.
- Players must find and organize the cards by their answers from least to greatest. For example, 2+1=3 would be followed by 3+1=4 or the next-highest answer. (If you need a pared-down version of this game, simply choose 6 to 10 flashcards for your child and have him or her put them in order from smallest to largest or largest to smallest.
Flashcard Deals
Flashcard Sets of 3 for $9.99:
Flashcards on Amazon:
Addition and Subtraction
Multiplication and Division
Looking for a little extra math practice?
Skill Sharpeners: Math for grades PreK–6 provides colorful and fun math pages that give your child grade-appropriate math skills practice.
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.
Amy Michaels is a certified teacher with 11 years of elementary classroom experience who is actively homeschooling her own children. Her mission is share the best teaching methods and resources with all homeschoolers. Amy supports parents through her podcasts, webinars, and online training for homeschoolers on her website www.thrivehomeschooling.com.
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.
Mineko Inouye currently works as the project lead for the Marketing and Communications department at CSU Long Beach. Before moving into Higher Ed, she worked as an afterschool teacher/site supervisor at an LA-based learning center. There she could see that students throughout LAUSD were learning at different paces based on their school, so she avidly used instructional workbooks like Evan-Moor’s to help bridge the gaps between her students. She’s thrilled to be assisting Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team. She loves the company because they, like her, will always be passionate about helping students learn.
Ali Southerland is a long term homeschool mom of many. She is zealous about education, the result of her own rigorous education. While math is not her favorite, science is. She writes all about how our science education is lacking (and how to fill the gaps) at 
How to Make Math Meaningful—Real-World Examples
There is math in the kitchen, used when you measure ingredients or figure out when dinner will be ready.
We tend to take math for granted when tasting an exquisite chocolate cake or driving across a beautiful bridge. Every time we need to know “how much,” we are just finding a missing part of our real-world story. We encounter many of these missing bits every day: how much the groceries will cost, how much time before the school bus arrives, how many eggs are needed to make 5 batches of cookies for the bake sale. These problems are not generally written out for us—they just arise. No one tells us, “This is going to be an addition problem” or, “You’ll have to calculate the total needed first and then subtract what you already have.” We figure this out from the context and information at hand. There are no shortcuts in our real-world stories.
Kathy Jorgensen has been an educator most of her life, starting as a peer tutor in second grade and tutoring her way through high school and college. After teaching grades 2 through 12, she spent two decades editing standardized tests. Kathy happily returned to her teaching roots, providing instruction and practice in Evan-Moor’s math and science products. When she’s not polishing words on the page, Kathy is flitting down the dance floor indulging her passion for Scottish country dancing as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher.
Creative writing is one of my favorite subjects to teach and is often a writing activity that students enjoy. However, creative writing can be a very challenging activity for some students. Providing engaging topics and images can help reluctant writers generate the ideas, vocabulary, and enthusiasm needed in order to begin a writing prompt.
In the 1960s, Kellogg’s released its new breakfast item, the Pop-Tart, originally called a Fruit Scone, but had its name changed as a pun on the Pop Art movement.
