This page lists all the printable math games on this site. Actually, most of the games on this site are printable, but some require significant extra preparation. So here is a list of the games on this site that are as close as possible to this goal:
News Flash : Looking for the printable worksheets? They've all been moved to a special page of Math Worksheets right here..
Usage Instructions : Print. Play.
An Advent Calendar, besides being a great Christmas tradition, helps teach younger kids counting and calendars in a fun, exciting way. Download and print this free advent calendar, make up up with a trimmer and glue, and enjoy the Christmas countdown with your child.Extra Materials Required : a trimmer and some glue
Use this Printable Sudoku Generator to create as many printable sudoku puzzles as you like, or download the ones I've already generated for you. You can choose the difficulty level, the number of puzzles to print, and whether or not to print the solutions.Extra Materials Required : just a pencil - and some puzzle-solving time!
Print these Magic Number Cards, learn how to use them, and with a bit of practice you'll be able to amaze your friends with your number guessing skills! This page provides the traditional version of this trick, as well as a few variations of my own invention. Full instructions and a video example are available at the web page.Extra Materials Required : scissors, to make the cards. Friends to baffle and amaze!
The Traffic Jam Game is one of my favorite amongst the elementary math games on this site. It's a great puzzle for teaching logical thinking and boosting problem-solving ability. Yet, the rules are simple enough that a four-year old can understand them. First, second and third grade kids will enjoy the simpler puzzles. Fourth, fifth and sixth graders will enjoy the challenge of the harder ones. Try the printable version or the online version.Extra Materials Required : scissors to cut out the pieces. While playing? Brain!
This free "fours" contest closed on the 20th of October, 2009. The idea was to make as many numbers as possible using the digit '4' (as many times as you like) and the operations plus, minus, divide and times. Soon I'll upload the contest results, and ideas for how you can run a contest like this one in your own classroom.Extra Materials Required : just a pencil, maybe some scrap paper... oh, and a calculator might help
There is a famous story about the inventor of chess, who was offered a reward by the emperor of India. He chose a reward that seemed to the emperor very cheap - just a few sacks of rice - but in reality came to more rice than India could produce in a million years. This site has worksheets to help kids work through a Modern Rice-And-Chessboard Story and see for themselves how rich the reward was.Extra Materials Required : a pen or pencil, and perhaps a calculator.
Print out as many foldable number sheets as you want, and use them to explain our "number system" - why the 8's in eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight all mean different things, even though they look exactly the same! There are three sizes of printable sheets, and also a movie showing one time I used them with my son to explain a point that was troubling him.Extra Materials Required : scissors, to cut out the charts. Pen or pencil during teaching sessions.
In This Challenging Math Puzzle you have to place the numbers one through eight in a grid, such that no two neighboring squares have consecutive numbers. It's possible to solve, but it can be quite tough. I've seen 4th graders baffle away for weeks at this puzzle, but its 5th grade and 6th grade kids who seem to have a more realistic chance to solve it. Enjoy!Extra Materials Required : one pencil - and an eraser, or lots of copies of the grid!
These Sight Number exercises, inspired by "Salisbury Sight Words", are designed to help your kids memorise their addition, subtraction and multiplication tables in the optimal way.Extra Materials Required : a pencil - and parental involvement.
To win this big numbers contest, your kids just need to think of the biggest number they possibly can - bigger than anyone else's! This contest closed on October 20, 2008, but the page shows you how you can organize a min-contest within a class or a school.Extra Materials Required : a photocopy machine, to make lots of enrty forms
These Math Mazes are good for puzzle-loving kids as they learn their 7 and 8 times tables. They may look like ordinary mazes, but knowing your times table will help you reach your goal!Extra Materials Required : just a pencil!
This website has a host of times table charts and grids that you can download and print - even up to the 20 times tables!Extra Materials Required : something to stick the charts to the wallIn one famous puzzle, you must make as many numbers as you can using only the given four digits and the basic arithmetic operations. I've worked out which sets of four digits make this puzzle the most interesting, and provided worksheets on this page. Good for grades four and up.Extra Materials Required : one pencil (although a calculator might help too).
This Addition Worksheet Generator lets you generate as many worksheets as you want for addition. The questions can be as simple as 2+3, or as complex as 35495+37204+114532+38962 and beyond. You use a form to say how many problems you want on teh worksheet, and how difficult you want it to be. You can give the permalink to the worksheet to your students so they can do the questions, and keep the solutions permalink secret. Try it now!Extra Materials Required : more yummy snacks!
This Math Board Game will ensure kids get a lot of mental arithmetic practice! Good for grade 4 and up. This site also has a Times Table Board Game... see below!Extra Materials Required : while playing? Just a good brain for sums!
This Set Of Tiles can be used to help teach kids how to add and subtract numbers of more than one digit. Good for, say, first to third graders, or anyone who just doesn't 'get' the idea of carrying and borrowing 1's.Extra Materials Required : scissors, to cut out the tiles.
Print out and make this set of Fractions Dominoes. It's a fractions activity designed to help kids recognise how much of a circle each fraction represents. Unlike some other math games, winning is not just about being better at math - but the game nonetheless provides great learning opportunities.Extra Materials Required : scissors, glue and some thick cardboard.
This Checkerboard (or Chessboard) Jigsaw Puzzle will be a great challenge for your primary school kids. Watch them try and try to arrange the pieces until they succeed!Extra Materials Required : scissors, to cut out the pieces.
In a Cryptarithm puzzle, each digit of an arithmetic sum has been replaced with a letter of the alphabet. The aim of the puzzle is to restore the original sum. These puzzles are sometimes called alphametics or crypt-arithmetics. You can get many more such puzzles from the resources available at www.cryptarithmania.com.Extra Materials Required : a pencil, and lots of scrap paper!
Here's a fun game that is almost guaranteed to make your kids love math, particularly addition. They'll love it for one simple reason - food! To play the game, you only need a printout of the colorful picture provided (there's also a black-and-white version), and a supply of small yummy snacks. Sultanas worked best for my son. Full instructions, and tips on how to avoid behavior pitfalls, are provided.Extra Materials Required : yummy snacks!
The Dot Joining Game is not a join-the-dots puzzle, but a two-player paper-and-pencil game. I've described the game, and also described how you can help your fourth, fifth and sixth graders to unlock the hidden mathematical patterns behind the game.Extra Materials Required : one pencil.
In this puzzle, the goal is to cut a Heart-Shaped Biscuit into three pieces, so that each piece contains only one color of sprinkles. The cuts will be very twisty and wiggly, but that's fine for this puzzle. Because of the shape of the biscuit, this puzzle is perfect for around Valentine's Day, but it can also be used at any other time of the year.Extra Materials Required : scissors, or a pen.
To complement the online version, I've prepared a Printable Version of Color Switcher. Color Switcher is a puzzle game - you start with some beads on a board, and the goal is to change the colors of all the beads using a series of jumps. This web page has ideas for how you can prepare your own color switcher puzzle set, and has links to printable puzzle booklets with dozens of puzzles to try to solve.Extra Materials Required : an othello set - or some glue, cardboard, a chessboard