A teacher, parent, tutor or student can make this game in half an hour with a small budget. The game is modified easily so different skills can be practiced and it never becomes boring. It is best for 2-5 players and the enclosed design makes a game that lasts 15-25 minutes.
Materials Needed to Make Game
- Bristol or poster board in a light color
- two colors of cardstock or Bristol board (blue and yellow)
- 2 dice
- game pieces (pieces of Lego or Dollar store game pieces will do)
- Markers
- Scissors or paper cutter
Making the Math Game
Draw the board game on the light poster board (diagram 1) with a marker. The design of the track is not crucial so feel free to be creative. It is a basic track and starts at one end and finishes at the other with 90-100 spaces. Making a couple forks in the road where players choose the track they wish to take makes the game more fun.
Mark the first square "START" and the final one "FINISH". Seven spaces from the end write "Use one die now"
Color 25-30 of the squares blue and about 20 squares yellow. Diagram 1 show a suggested placement of the colored squares that works well but exact placement is not crucial.
Cut the two colors (blue and yellow) of cardstock or poster board into 5 cm x 7 cm (2 x 21/2 inch) rectangles. 25 of each are necessary to start. More blue ones can be made at a later date.
Write the directions on the yellow cards. The yellow cards correspond to the yellow squares on the board. They will be the directive cards. Write things like, "Go Back 2 Spaces", "Go Ahead 3 spaces", "Go ahead to the next blue square", "Miss a turn", "Roll 1 die and advance that many spaces". Children love to help make these cards.
Write Math questions on the blue squares. These blue cards will correspond to the blue squares on the game board. Select your target skill and write appropriate math questions. A mixture of questions can be used as well. One card may ask, "How many quarters in a dollar", another "Which is larger 1/2 or 1/4" and yet another, "7 x 8"
Make more blue question cards as required. When you want to target a new math skill or age group simply make new blue cards.
Playing The Math Game
Players begin the game with their game pieces on START
Each player rolls a die and the player with the highest roll starts the game. Then the player to the left will go next, etc.
Player one rolls two dice. He adds the total and advances that many spaces. This is a great opportunity for practicing fast mental addition.
If he lands on a yellow square he draws a yellow card and follows the directions.
If he lands on a blue square, he draws a blue card and answers the math question. If he is correct he advances two spaces.
If following the directions on the yellow card or advancing two spaces for getting the math question correct makes him land on a blue or yellow square, he gets to draw a new card. Children love it when they end up picking up three cards in one turn.
When player one is done his turn, player two rolls two dice and proceeds. Play continues in a clockwise order.
The first player to land on FINISH is the winner. The player must get the exact roll to land on FINISH.
With minimal investment of time and money a versatile Math game can be created. The game is a basic race to the finish game that incorporates math questions. It is one game board that can be modified for many skills and ages. Children will have fun while they practice Math skills.
 |
 |
