5 Fun Ways to Practice Math Facts

Back when I was a kid, I absolutely hated big, long worksheets filled with math problems. It was my least favorite way to practice and learn math facts. As a teacher, I want my students to have FUN while practicing math facts! I want to build students’ math fact fluency without having them dread the process!

Today I’m sharing 5 fun ways your students can practice their math facts! These ideas are meant to be engaging, easy to implement, and low-prep!

1. Math Facts with Dominoes

I stumbled upon this game a few years ago, and my students LOVED it! It’s a simple yet interactive enrichment activity that they can not only do at school, but at home, too! If you don’t have any dominoes readily available at your school, you can find them at your local Dollar Tree!

How to Play: Students will get a domino piece. Students will write the equation that matches the domino piece, then answer the equation. Once the equation has been solved, students will compare their answers and the strategies they used.

Suggested number of players: 2

Materials needed: dominoes, two pieces of paper, pencils

2. Math Fact Practice Go Fish

This activity is a new take on adding with missing addends. What I love about this activity is that it can be differentiated to meet students’ needs.

How to Play: Have a group of 3-4 students sit in a circle. Assign a sum to the group. The sum can be no higher than 20. Students will each get 5 cards each. The remaining cards will go in the middle.

Students will then select a card from the five cards that they have, then strategize to see what card he or she will need in order to get the sum that was assigned to their group. Students will ask the classmate to their left if he or she has the specific card that they need. If they do, great! If not, the classmate will tell them to Go Fish!

Suggested number of players: 3-4

Materials needed: Set of cards ranging from 1-19

3. Double Down

This is a class favorite! Double Down is the perfect game to play if you have a quick 5-10 minutes of time to fill!

How to Play: This is a whole group activity, but group students into pairs. When you say, “Roll ’em!” everyone rolls their two dice at the same time. Anytime someone rolls doubles, they yell, “Double Down!” Both students in that pair should stop rolling, then add the value of the dice, and record the sum under the pair who rolled it! As play continues, students keep track of both sets of scores. Whoever has the most points at the end of five minutes wins.

Suggested number of students: Whole group, students in pairs

Materials needed: Two dice, one piece of paper, and one pencil

4. Egg Carton Math Facts

Start saving your egg cartons for this activity! Better yet, ask parents to send some in and you’ll be ready to go in no time!

How to Play: At the bottom of each depression, write the numbers 1-12. Students will place two chips inside the carton and close the lid. Students will gently shake the carton, open the top, and then add whichever numbers the chips landed on. Once the equation has been solved, students will compare their answers and the strategies they used.

*This can be differentiated using any numbers 0-20 or 0-100!

Suggested number of students: 2-3

Materials needed: Two chips, 2 pieces of paper and two pencils

5. Board Games & Memory Games

I love using a variety of board games and memory games with my students. They always seem to be a hit. That’s why I created games that align directly with the fact fluency strategies I’m teaching!

I pull out these addition fact fluency games and subtraction fact fluency games very frequently! Plus, once students are familiar with how to play them, I can set them as one of our early finisher activities.

Here’s a free doubles board game your students will love! Just print the game board, grab some dice, and you’re ready to play! Click here to get your copy!

Read more about addition fact fluency here!

Read more about subtraction fact fluency here!