Math fun games for kindergarten
Kindergarten Math Games That Make Learning Fun from the Start
Looking for ways to make math fun for young learners? Check out these kindergarten math games! They teach all the basic math skills kindergartners need to master and are sure to engage every kid in the learning process.
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1. Conquer cardinality with penguin dominoes
Kindergarten math students work to master cardinality, understanding that written numerals correspond to the number of items pictured. These free printable penguin dominoes make the concept fun to practice.
Learn more: Playdough to Plato
2. Put together puzzles to gain number sense
Kindergarten math students learn to understand that numbers can be represented in a variety of ways. These free printable puzzles help them practice those skills.
Learn more: Tickled Pink in Primary
3. Play teen-number bingo
This free printable game helps little ones master their numbers from 11 to 20, both as numerals and represented on ten-frames.
Learn more: The Measured Mom
4. Stack cups and count to 100
Kids love stacking things, so they’ll get a kick out of kindergarten math games that make use of stackable cups. This one has them doing it with 100 cups while they count! Turn it into a competition by putting them in teams and timing them to see who can finish the task the fastest.
Learn more: Kindergarten Smorgasboard/100 Cups
5. Visit the skip-counting store
How fun is this? Grab some toys and label them with price tags in increments of 10 cents. Give kids a handful of plastic dimes, and have them count out the amount needed for each “purchase.”
Learn more: Creative Family Fun/Skip Counting Store
6. Have a rubber duck race
In this game, kids race to see who can be the first to get their rubber duckies to 10 (or any number you choose).
They roll a die and lay out tiles to move their duck. The twist? To get to 10 at the end, they must roll the exact number they need—no going over! Kindergarten math games like this one are terrific for practicing counting on, basic addition, and making 10.
Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime
7. Practice counting on with cards and dice
Remove the face cards from a deck of playing cards and grab a pair of dice. The first player turns over a card and then rolls the dice. The number on the dice indicates how far they “count on” from the card. (For example, a player turns over a three and rolls a four. They say, “Three: four, five, six, seven.”) If the player gets it right, they keep the card, and the other player(s) get a turn.
Learn more: Creative Family Fun/Counting On
8. Skip-count with craft sticks
There are endless ways to use craft sticks in the classroom. For this game, number a series of colorful sticks by fives, as shown. Kids can practice by putting them in order first.
Then, have a student draw a stick and count on by fives from that number to 100—if they draw 75, they then count 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100. If they get it right, they keep the stick, and the next player takes a turn.
Learn more: Simply Kinder
9. Match teen numbers
Once they’ve mastered the numbers 1 to 10, it’s time to understand how those numerals add up to make bigger numbers. These free printable cards show numerals and matching bundles of sticks that deconstruct each teen number into tens and ones.
Learn more: The Kindergarten Connection
10. Compare numbers with dominoes
Kindergartners learn to compare numbers to determine which is larger and which smaller. Stacking math cubes based on the numbers on dominoes is a fun, hands-on way to compare the two numbers side by side, making it easier to see the difference.
Learn more: My Fabulous Class
11. Face off and compare numbers
You’ll need some small toys for this game, as well as polyhedral dice.
Kids roll and place the number of items on their side. Then, they compare the two to see which is bigger.
Learn more: Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
12. Make 10 with two-sided chips
You’ll need counting chips that are a different color on each side for this activity. Kids shake up 10 chips in a cup and pour them out on the table. Then they see how many they have of each color and write that number bond to make 10.
Learn more: First Grade Fairytales
13. Throw snowballs to make 10
Make “snowballs” from paper (or any way you like), then place them in a bucket at one end of the room. Start kids out by having them toss snowballs into another bucket until they reach 10 (or any target number). Then, up the challenge by placing some snowballs in each bucket and have kids figure out how many more they need to toss in to make 10.
Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls—Snowball Math Games
14. Use Uno cards to play addition war
In the card game War, players each flip an Uno card, and the one whose card is greatest takes them both.
In this twist on one of our favorite kindergarten games, players each flip two cards. They then use counting blocks to represent the numbers and count on or add to find the sum. The largest sum wins the hand, and play continues.
Learn more: Planning Playtime—Addition Game
15. Roll and add for fluency within 5
Kindergarten math students work to become fluent in adding and subtracting within 5. This free printable board game makes it fun!
Learn more: Liz’s Early Learning Spot
16. Get four in a row and learn place value
This customizable game helps teach the early place-value concept of tens plus ones. Get it for free at the link.
Learn more: Two Boys and a Dad
17. Bowl and subtract within 10
Set up a toy bowling pin set (or make one from plastic bottles or toilet-paper tubes). Kids bowl and see how many pins they knock down, subtracting that number from 10. Then they repeat, this time subtracting from the previous answer.
First to get to zero wins!
Learn more: Planning Playtime—Subtraction Worksheets
18. Get off my boat!
So simple, so engaging, so fun! Use tape to outline a boat shape on the floor (or try this outside with sidewalk chalk). Let some kids board the “boat,” then make some get off. Use those numbers to write a subtraction number sentence and solve the equation!
Learn more: Kindergarten Smorgasboard—Get Off My Boat!
19. Drive and compare numbers to music
Prep for this game by using dot markers on paper plates as shown (visit the link below for more examples). Each kid takes a plate then uses it to “drive” around the room as you play music. When the music stops, they find a nearby partner and compare what they see on each other’s plates (e.g., “8 dots is more than 4 dots. 1 green dot is less than 4 green dots.” Then start the music up and repeat!
20. Build a weigh station
Use a hanger and plastic cups to build a super-simple weigh station.
Kids will love dropping items into the cups to see which weighs more or less. Turn it into a game by having them try to guess which object weighs more first or how many of one item equals another.
21. Battle it out in ribbon war
Looking for kindergarten math games that teach non-standard measurement? This idea is fun and easy. Cut colorful ribbons into a variety of lengths and place them in a bag. Each student pulls a ribbon from the bag. Then, put students in pairs and have them compare their ribbons to identify the longer one. The student with the longer ribbon keeps both, and the game continues.
22. Hold a shape scavenger hunt
Kindergarten math students are learning to recognize shapes in their environment and also to categorize and sort. This scavenger hunt does it all! Send them out to find objects in the room that match the shapes. Then count and compare to see how many you have in each category.
Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls—Shape Scavenger Hunt
23.
Hop along a shapes mazeUse sidewalk chalk to lay out a shape maze on the playground or driveway. Choose a shape and hop from one to the next, or call out a different shape for every jump!
Learn more: Creative Family Fun—Shape Maze
24. Make a match to learn shapes
Grab these free printable memory cards at the link. Then play and learn the basic shapes.
Learn more: Life Over C’s
25. Guess the mystery shapes
Work on geometry terms like “sides” and “vertices” when you sort shapes using these attributes. Start by placing 3D shapes into paper bags and asking students questions like “The shape in this bag has 4 sides. What could it be?”
Learn more: Susan Jones Teaching
Love these kindergarten math games? You’ll also enjoy these 50 Kindergarten Math Word Problems of the Day!
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7 Kindergarten Math Activities To Make Learning Fun
Young children are often eager to learn new skills and concepts.
That’s why introducing kindergarten math activities can be so effective.
One thing to always remember, though, is to make learning at home fun and engaging because children learn best through play. And, luckily for you, our experts at HOMER know a thing or two about that!
This article will give you a detailed guideline to help your child get a solid mathematical foundation. These easy at-home activities are fun, engaging, and offer lots of learning opportunities.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Kindergarten Math Concepts
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand which concepts your young learner will be tackling in kindergarten. That way, it’s easier to know which activities and math skills to focus on at home.
The following are the key math principles your child may know by the end of their kindergarten year:
- Counting and cardinality
- Recognizing numbers beyond 10
- Adding and subtracting single-digit numbers
- Recognizing shapes
- Classifying objects by size
With the principles above in mind, we’ve compiled a list of activities that will help your child develop these essential skills.
7 Fun Kindergarten Math Activities
1) Shape Hunt
What You’ll Need:
- Notebook
- Crayons
What To Do:
Start by selecting any two objects around your house that look different but have the same shape. Then, give your child clues about one of the objects. For example, you might say, “It has a round shape.”
Your child will need to act as a detective and solve this shape mystery! When they are confident that they know what this object is, encourage them to take their detective notebook and draw the item.
Repeat this process for the second object.
Once your little detective has found and drawn the two objects, you can evaluate them and discuss other items with the same shape. So, for something that’s round, this can be plates, pizza, door handles, and so on.
Once you’re confident they understand the properties of the shape, you can play the game again with another shape (triangle, square, etc.).
You don’t have to limit yourselves to your indoor space.
You can also head outside and search for many interesting shapes in your garden, local park, or neighborhood if you’d like.
Find out more about this interesting game from our blog.
2) Count The Beans
What You’ll Need:
- Spoon
- Dried kidney beans
What To Do:
For this fun activity, you will need to take a spoon and hold it outstretched. Your child will then proceed to put one dried kidney bean at a time onto the spoon.
When the first one falls off, you then count how many beans you managed to get on the spoon.
You can play this game with a larger spoon as well. For this, the numbers will get higher, so your child will need to be familiar with higher numbers before they’re ready for this one.
To help, a simple 10 frame should do the trick (a 10 frame is basically a rectangle with 10 equal spaces (five on top and five on the bottom).
If, when counting the beans, you end up with more than 10, you can put each set of 10 in a small paper cup, allocate the cups to each frame, and then add everything for the final tally.
This activity helps kindergarteners continue practicing their counting and gain an understanding of number sense.
3) Building Sets With Blocks
What You’ll Need:
- Building blocks
What To Do:
This activity requires you to ask your young learner to build a color tower with a specific number of blocks. For example, “Build a blue tower with 10 blocks, a red tower with eight blocks, and a yellow tower with eleven blocks.”
All this information will need to be remembered by your child, so this can be a great way to help build memory. Children will also continue practicing colors and counting skills with this activity.
4) Number Guessing
What You’ll Need:
Magnetic numbers (0 – 9)
What To Do:
For this activity, your child will need to put their hands behind their back. You will then place one of the magnetic numbers in their hands for them to feel. Can they guess the number?
If this is a little challenging at first, it can help to have another set of magnetic numbers that they can see as they feel.
This is a great sensory activity that can help familiarize children with each number’s interesting shape and unique qualities.
5) Shape Hopscotch
What You’ll Need:
- Different colored paper
- Scissors
- Painter’s tape
What To Do:
Hopscotch is one of our favorite games here at HOMER. If you’re looking to play the traditional game, you can check out this link, which includes other fun math-related activities in addition to Hopscotch.
For this article, we decided to switch things up a bit with shape hopscotch. All you need to do is cut out six different (but easily recognizable) shapes and give each shape its own color (for example, red circles, yellow triangles, blue squares, purple stars, etc.).
Once you have your shapes, tape them to the floor with painter’s tape. While taping, ensure that the spacing works for your child (the shapes aren’t too far apart).
You can encourage your child to jump, hop, or wiggle through the shapes.
Here are a few ways they can make it through their shape maze:
- Call out colors or shapes for your child to race and find
- Have them hop from one side to the other side by only touching one shape or color
- Give them directions as they go, and ask what they’ve landed on. For example, “Jump three shapes to the left, one shape up, and two shapes right. What color and shape are you on?”
This is an excellent and fun way for kids to continue working on their gross motor skills while incorporating shape and color recognition. Children will also work on the important skill of following directions.
6) Make A Number Line
What You’ll Need:
- Chalk
- Paved area outside
- Deck of cards
What To Do:
On your paved area outside, draw a large number line with chalk. You can write numbers up to 10, 20, or even 30 as your child becomes familiar with those numbers.
Next, take five red playing cards (numbers 1 – 5) and five black playing cards (numbers 1 – 5).
Then, you each get a token which you’ll place in the middle of the number line. Mix the cards and put them face down.
Next, take turns picking cards. A red card means you go up the number line based on the card’s value (for example, if you pull a red five of hearts, you move up five spaces). A black card, on the other hand, means you go down on the number line (red four of clubs = down four spaces).
If you end up below the number one or above the top number on the line, you’ll stay put until all players have had their turn.
After each player has picked four cards, whoever is highest on the number line wins!
7) Snowball Battle
What You’ll Need:
- Paper
- 3 small buckets
What To Do:
Crumble your paper to make “snowballs.” Then, place your buckets at the end of the room. Challenge your child to toss the snowballs into any of the buckets until they reach a target number (e.g., 10).
If you have multiple kids, this can turn into some friendly competition with a timer.
How many can you land in five minutes?
You can also vary the game a bit for older kids by having them toss all 10 snowballs into the three buckets and then write down how they got to 10 (for example, with 3 balls in one bucket, 4 balls in the next, and 3 balls in the last). How many ways can it be done?
Gross motor and counting skills come into play when engaging in this activity.
Tips For Helping Kindergarteners With Math
The above activities should help your child practice and understand their math skills. Additionally, here are a few key points to keep in mind.
Incorporate Math Into Everyday Life
Math is all around us! It is in the shapes of objects and buildings, the measurements we take when baking, and the sorting of patterns. This makes it easy to incorporate math into everyday activities.
Remember that the more practice your child gets, the easier it will be to grasp these foundational concepts.
Make It Enjoyable
When something seems too challenging, kids can quickly become overwhelmed and give up before starting.
Help your child understand how much fun math is by regularly introducing them to math activities in a fun, relaxed way.
We recommend checking out the HOMER blog to see what other entertaining learning games your child can play to build their math skills.
Practice Positive Reinforcement
Positive feedback is one of the key components for your child to continue having a healthy relationship with mathematics. So, when they finally grasp a concept they’ve been struggling with, make a big deal out of it by praising them.
And, if there’s a math skill they haven’t grasped yet, be patient and continue practicing. Soon enough, they’ll get it!
Lay A Solid Foundation With Kindergarten Math Activities
Sometimes children (and adults) view math negatively. You’ll often hear them express how challenging it is. But kindergarten math activities can help build positivity and confidence!
While it can be a challenge, math is still one of the most important subjects children learn and can benefit them for the rest of their lives.
That’s why building math skills early on matters.
Engaging in fun, entertaining, and educational kindergarten math activities can help children achieve just that. And our list above offers great ways to practice.
Check out the HOMER Learn & Grow app for even more math activities and to discover how we can help your young learner thrive!
Author
9 useful math games for kids and their parents
If you have already downloaded the useful apps recommended by Alexander Markellov, a math teacher at Khoroshkola and the founder of the Mathematical Paths project, then it's time to take a closer look at simple math games. The great thing is that they will come in handy on a walk, in a traffic jam, and on a Saturday evening.
1. "Signals"
Age: 3–5 years old
Develops counting skills and the ability to concentrate.
This is a game for the little ones and it is very enjoyable because it is easy to play on the road or on the street.
When you go hand in hand with a child, you simply press his palm, and he must count how many times you pressed. Then you can change.
2. “Then jump!”
Age: 6–10 years old
An especially good game when you are walking somewhere with your child and you need to entertain him. The game is more about attention, but it also tells something about the property of numbers. The rules are simple: even - clap your hands, divided by three - jump, and if there are 7 in the number - say "Ulyul". The more signs to track, the more difficult the game.
3. "Fly"
Age: 6–14 years old
Develops attention and spatial thinking.
To explain the game, we need a drawn 3 by 3 square. In the center of the square we need to put a dot, it will be a “trained fly”. You give the fly the commands "up", "down", "right", "left", it executes them.
After you have explained the rules, you need to ask the child to imagine a field and a fly on it.
Now you will order her how many cells and in which direction to move. The child must imagine these movements. If the fly went out of the field, he must clap - this means that he caught it and this is his victory. And if you didn’t slam, then the fly flew away and you won. Change roles after each game.
Changing the difficulty level. You can make the field larger or even turn it into a three-dimensional one. For example, a 3x3x3 cube. You can also give a series of commands without pauses. For example, down - up - right - down.
4. "Danetki" with mathematical concepts
Age: 6–12 years old
Develops categorization of concepts.
You guess any mathematical concept. For example, "circle" or "number 10". And the child asks questions to which you can answer either “yes” or “no”. Here, of course, there are endless possibilities for the level of complexity.
5. Bulls and Cows
Age: 7–99 years old
Develops logical thinking
This is a number guessing game.
The participants of the game think of four-digit numbers and write them down on their sheets. All the numbers that make up the guessed numbers must be different from 1 to 9. The task of the players is to determine the number of the opponent by asking questions in turn. To ask a question means to name some four-digit number, all the digits of which are different.
If the conceived and named numbers have a common figure in the same place, then this situation is called "Bull" (denoted by "B").
For example: the number 5739 is conceived, the enemy calls the number 1234. The number "3" in both the first and second numbers is in third place. In this case, the answer is "One bull" ("1B").
If the conceived and named numbers have the same digits, but they are in different places, then this situation is called "Cow" (indicated by "K").
For example: the number 5739 is conceived, the enemy calls the number 3456. The numbers "3" and "5" are the same, but are in different places.
In this case, the answer is "Two
cows" ("2K").
Having heard the question, the player must carefully compare it with the planned number and correctly name the number of “bulls” and “cows”. The winner is the player who managed to guess the opponent's number in fewer questions. To avoid disputes, write down not only the opponent's answers, but also your answers to him in a separate column.
An example of a game where the player thought of the number 2534.
Changing the difficulty level: to make it easier, you can think of a three-digit number or use only numbers from 1 to 5.
6. Tic-tac-toe 5 by 5
Age: 7–12 years old
Develops logical and spatial thinking.
The playing field is a square 5 by 5 cells. Two are playing. The first puts a cross in any cell, the second puts a zero. The winner is the one who puts three in a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
Changing the difficulty level: there is 3D tic-tac-toe, and the field can also be infinitely large.
7. Guess the number
Age: 8–99 years old
Develops logical thinking.
I think almost everyone has played this game. You guess any number from 0 to 100 (the range can vary depending on age). The child must guess it in the least number of attempts. After each guess, you say whether your number is greater or less.
It is important that the child finds the most efficient way to guess by himself - it is not very difficult (break into equal ranges, i.e. 50, 25, 13, etc.). Therefore, when you switch roles, it is better to guess the number with the wrong strategy.
Difficulty change: You can agree that you have one or more opportunities to lie. The task immediately becomes much more difficult, as soon as you are allowed to write down answers and reason together.
8. "Black box"
Age: 8-99 years old
Develops logical thinking and helps to understand dependencies.
You think of some function. For example, x + 6.
The child tells you a number, for example 5. You substitute his number into your function: 5 + 6 = 11, and tell him the answer is 11. Then the child says another number. For example, 9, you answer him what you did. In our case, it will be 9 + 6 = 15. The child must guess what you are doing with his number, that is, understand what function you have guessed. Then you can change.
Changing the difficulty level: you can think of very different functions, for example x ⋅ (x - 1), and if the child is older than 6-7th grade, then you can build a graph using these points and at the same time see the properties of the graphs of the function.
9. Signs of divisibility
Age: 9–13 years old
It's not really a game, but I used to love doing it as a kid. There are interesting signs of divisibility. For example, if the difference between the sum of digits in even places and the sum of digits in odd places is divisible by 11, then the number is divisible by 11.
Or, in other words, if the alternating sum of digits is divisible by 11, then the number itself is divisible by 11. Or if the sum of the digits is divisible by 9, then the whole number is divisible by 9.
I looked for numbers on the street and checked what they were divisible by. For example, I liked checking if the car number is divisible by 11. I think it is possible to offer the child to explore the world around him in this way and see if he likes it or not. Such games are easy to invent yourself. While I was writing the text, one of my colleagues came up with a similar game.
Cheerful Mathematics at Home
Consultation for parents "Cheerful Mathematics at Home"
Parents can provide invaluable help in mastering elementary mathematical concepts for a preschooler from the age of 3. And only the joint work of the kindergarten and the family can ensure the success of the child in mastering this section of the program of the preschool educational institution.
The home environment promotes the emancipation of the child and he learns the learning material at his own pace, reinforces the knowledge gained in kindergarten. Parents, in turn, learn a lot about their child.
Therefore, we can recommend some mathematical games and exercises for playing them in the family circle. These games are available for a child of primary preschool age and do not require lengthy preparation, the production of complex didactic material.
Mathematical game "Pick the wheels to the wagons"
Purpose of the game: learning to distinguish and name geometric shapes, establishing a correspondence between groups of figures, counting up to 5. , and to red - blue wheels. Then you need to count the wheels from left to right for each trailer separately (cars and wheels can be cut out of colored cardboard in 5-10 minutes).
Mathematical game "Compose a flower"
Purpose of the game: to teach how to make a flower silhouette from geometric shapes of the same shape, grouping them.
Game progress: an adult invites a child to make a flower for mom or grandmother for the holiday from geometric shapes. At the same time, he explains that the middle of the flower is a circle, and the petals are triangles or circles. The child is given the choice to collect a flower with triangular or round petals. Thus, it is possible to fix the names of geometric shapes in the game, inviting the child to show the desired figure.
Game-exercise "Name a similar object"
Purpose of the game: development of visual attention, observation and coherent speech.
Game progress: an adult asks a child to name objects that look like different geometric shapes, for example, "Find what looks like a square" or find all the round objects ... This game can be easily played while traveling or on the way home.
"Collect the beads"
Purpose of the game: to develop the perception of color, size; the ability to generalize and concentrate; speech.
Game progress: for sequences, you can use the Lego constructor, figures cut out of paper (but I prefer figures made from kitchen cellulose napkins - they are more convenient to work with), any other objects.
Of course, at this age the sequence should be very simple, and the task for the child should be to lay one or two bricks in its continuation. Examples of sequences (the child must continue the logical series - complete the track with "correct bricks"):
Mathematical game “What is in our apartment”
Purpose of the game: to develop the ability to navigate in space; logical thinking, creative imagination; coherent speech, self-control
development of visual attention, observation and coherent speech.
Game progress: first you need to consider the interior of the room, apartment in sequence. Then you can ask the child to tell what is in each room. If he finds it difficult or does not name all the objects, help him with leading questions.
