Category Archives: Math Games

Keep Math Alive This Summer

Posted on by

Fun ways to keep math alive this summer


The school weeks are winding down and summer is quickly approaching. While teachers and students alike welcome the break, it’s important to keep math skills alive over the many weeks of summer vacation.

Here are four fun ideas for helping your kids use their math skills this summer:

 1. Download and play My Dear Aunt Sally

This new, engaging math game by Ron Larson reinforces many of the Common Core skills that are vital to math literacy. Playing the game for 15 minutes a day is a fun, easy way to keep math skills fresh! My Dear Aunt Sally includes number sense, number operations, order of operations, and problem solving.

2. Set up a family game night

The Big Ideas Math Game Closet includes dozens of interactive math games that can be printed and played at home. Get the family together once a week, make some popcorn, and have fun with math!

3. Ask the kids to help with dinner

Cooking together is a great way to reinforce math skills! Using measuring cups is a perfect way to practice adding or subtracting fractions (example: The recipe calls for ½ cup of flour. How many quarter cups could I use to get the same amount?). Cutting a pizza into equal parts lends easily to fraction questions as well.

4. Get active

Get your child a pedometer to wear and keep track of his/her daily steps. Keep a record of the daily count for a week (or more) and graph the results to compare the steps taken each day. Students can also record their heart rate while performing various activities (resting, walking, running, climbing stairs, jumping, etc.) and compare the results.

Are there any activities you would add to the list? Please share them with us in the comments!

Big Ideas Learning Announces New Math Game Partnership

Posted on by

My Dear Aunt Sally

Big Ideas Learning has partnered with RD Imagine to launch a new math game, My Dear Aunt Sally, that reinforces many of the skills demanded by the Common Core State Standards in grades 2-8.  The over 300 difficulty levels of the game range from adding whole numbers to multiple operations involving rational numbers.

My Dear Aunt Sally was developed by Ron Larson, Ph.D., author of the Big Ideas Math program. The game was 6 months in development and incorporates successful learning styles recommended by the new Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Larson said “When I started looking at the math games that are available, I realized two things.  First, they aren’t fun.  Second and more importantly, they don’t employ higher level thinking that is so necessary for success in mathematics. With My Dear Aunt Sally, we changed that.  The game is both fun and employs higher level thinking.”

The game covers the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponents, as applied to whole numbers, integers, decimals, fractions, and rational numbers.  Embedded in the game are dozens of animations and bonus games.

My Dear Aunt Sally is available free at www.MyDearAuntSally.com.  It is also available for purchase as an App at the Apple App Store and at Google Play.

Check out the fantastic review of My Dear Aunt Sally over at Fun Educational Apps.

Fun for the Entire Family

Posted on by

Big Ideas Math Game Closet

Parents and students, do you have a game night at home?

Try choosing a Game from the Big Ideas Game Closet at least once a month.

All the game pieces, boards, spinners and directions accompany each activity.  Have fun while practicing some math skills.

You may want to begin with Name the Number, a simple activity to identify place value.

Or you may want to race each other while practicing with expressions and substitution.

Whatever game you choose fun is waiting for the entire family.

Now the games in the Big Ideas Game Closet are available in Spanish!

Featured Math Game – 03/21/2011

Posted on by

Last month the Big Ideas Math blog featured the game, “I Have…Who Has.” We hope you tried it and found playing it to be a fun and educational experience. This month we are featuring the game “Name the Number.”  This game is an entertaining way to practice comparing decimals. This game is available in English and in Spanish. Every game we showcase here is also posted on our website in the Big Ideas Math Game Closet. Each game is a great way to review and practice various math concepts.  We hope you enjoy playing “Name the Number!”

game closet

English:
Parent Review Sheet
Name the Number

Spanish:
Hoja de repaso para padres
Llame el número

Let us know what you think of the game after you play!

Featured Math Game – 02/18/2011

Posted on by

Math Can be Fun at Home

Playing math games is a fun way to review math skills at home. The Big Ideas Math program has many games in the online Game Closet. Each month, Big Ideas Math will feature a new game for parents to play with their child.

Parents, try playing the I Have…, Who Has…? game to review fraction, decimal, and percent equivalents with your child. This game is available in English and Spanish.

Big Ideas Math - Game Closet

Have Fun, give it a try, and let everyone know what you think of I Have…, Who Has…?!