Bingo Style

• Use the Bingo format to teach math facts, decimals, fractions, percentages and much more. Make several Bingo boards by creating a five-by-five grid with 25 blocks. If you are teaching multiplication of decimals, use index cards to formulate several call-out cards with different math problems such as 1.5 X 3, 0.2 X 0.4 and so on. Fill in some of the 25 blocks on the Bingo boards with the products relating to your call-out cards, such as 4.5, 0.08 and so on, creating a pattern like a Z, a diagonal or straight line. Fill the rest with random numbers. For the game, you call out the operation, like 1.5 x 3, and the students mark off the correct answer (4.5) on the Bingo board. Whoever completes the pattern first without any errors wins.
  
  

Dice and Token

• Make a board and dice game to teach math facts. On several index cards write instructions like "go forward two steps," "miss a turn," "quack like a duck" and other fun directions. On poster board make a large serpentine path and divide it into twenty or more segments. The first segment says "start" and the last one says "end." The rest of the segments have a math problem written within the square, which the child needs to solve when he lands on that spot.
  
  Four to six students play the game. A child rolls a die to decide how far to move her token on the board. If she lands on a math problem square, she has 10 seconds to answer it correctly. After a correct answer, she gets to pick a card from the top and follows the directive on it. If she answers incorrectly, she cannot draw a card and the turn passes to the next child. The one who reaches "end" first wins.
  
  

Shopping

• The shopping game is a great way to practice word problems. Use this game to reinforce basic operations, decimals, fractions and percentages. Make a three-by-two grid on poster board, creating 6 segments. Mark each segment with the numbers 1 through 6, as well as the names of 6 types of stores in a mall, for example, toy, shoes, food court and so on. Have the students collect pictures of cash registers, toys, shoes, food and other items relating to the appropriate "shop" and glue these around the poster board.
  
  Use 72 index cards to make six sets of 12 cards. The six sets represent the different stores on the poster board. Write 12 shopping-related word problems on each set pertaining to the store. An example is: Mary went to the store with $1.00 and bought a piece of candy for $0.33. How much change will she get back?
  
  The children take turns going to a store at the mall by rolling a die. The number on the die relates to each store. Use play money to make the experience more tactile and practical. Write the correct answer on the back of each card so the children know their answers are correct. The object of the game is the experience of shopping and counting money; it is not a competitive game. Therefore the students can play it in small groups or even alone. The game ends when the mall closes, in other words, you simply put a time limit on the game.
  
  

Conclusion

• Many online teacher supply stores sell board games for math. Some online sites allow you to download the games without charge. You will find links of both kinds in the resources.