Fun and Easy Math Games Kids of All Ages will Love
Math has always been known as a hard and boring subject yet we do not notice that it is all around us. In almost everything we do, math is involved in one way or another. We do computations when we are depositing or withdrawing money from the bank, when we are buying food or clothes from the grocery or department store, when we are measuring ingredients for the food we are going to cook or simply when we are looking at our wristwatch and checking out the time. All these actions involve numbers, computations and measurement which are evidently some of the many Math concepts we have somehow mastered or learned.
We may be unconsciously performing these math concepts and we would like to impart the knowledge to our kids yet we are not sure how to do it. It has been said time and again that the easiest way to learn and understand something is to do it the fun way so that it will be effortless on the person/s performing the act. Math, being a hard and boring subject, will best be learned and understood if its concepts are taught in a fun and no stress environment. There are a lot of ways by which Math can be learned fast, fun and easy for everybody of all ages and one of this is through games.
Board Games
Wikipedia™ defines board games as a game in which counters or pieces are placed on, removed from or moved across a pre-marked surface that is specific to that game. There different types of board games but most board games make use of numbers to be able to move forward, backward or across the board. With the different themes that board games have it is always fun for everybody of all ages and since most of these games make use of number then we can safely conclude that most games involve Mathematics. Here are some board games that have stood the test of time and which we ourselves and our kids have and will enjoy for a long time:
Monopoly™ – is a multi-player board game where each player is given a certain amount of money which he can use to buy up land, properties or businesses, pay taxes and make investments. The player who has the more investments wins. This is a game all members of the family can play. This game enhances a player’s skill in purchasing and investing.
Mastermind™ – is a two player board game where each player tries to decode or guess the series of colored pegs that the other player has defined prior to the start of the game. This is a game that will enhance a player’s skills in analysis and algorithms.
Chess – a well known two player board game that enhances a player’s skill in strategy and setting up a line of attack to be able to protect his/her queen.
Card Games
Wikipedia™ defines a card game as any game using playing cards as the primary tool or paraphernalia with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. There are a lot of card games from single player, two-player or multi-player games. These games which most of us learned since we ourselves were kids can also be taught to our kids to enhance their number recognition and number sequence skills. Examples of these card games are:
Solitaire – is a solo player card game where the player should be able to build the four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades) of a deck of cards sequentially from the Ace card up to the King card in a row. By player initially builds the cards by alternately using the black and red suit sequentially until finally building up the cards per suit and color. The game is won when all the suits have been built completely and separately. This card game when simply taught to young kids will enhance their skills in number recognition, number sequencing and one-to-one association. When playing this card game, kids will not notice that they are learning and practicing these skills because they are enjoying it and having fun.
Crazy Eights - is a game for two or more players wherein the player/s have to get rid of the cards they are holding one-by-one by matching it with either the suit or number of the previously discarded card. The player who gets to discard all the cards he has wins the game. This is a fun game for every member of the family, young and old alike, because it is just a simple matching game although you have to have your own strategy so that the other players will have to pass on their chance because they do not have a matching number or suit making you the first to discard all your cards. Kids love card games such as this and they do not know that they are learning the concept of matching and formulate strategies to win the game.
There are lots and lots of variations of board and card games which can help us and our kids in enhancing our Math skills both at home and in school. There are even card games that have been designed for toddlers so that they will be able to learn math concepts early on. Who ever said that Math is hard and boring must be kidding because there are a lot of games or tools that can and will help us make Math fun and easy.
