I loved Candy Land as a kid. It took an embarassingly long time before I realized that this was a game with no strategy, and in which you win purely by luck. This game holds a special place in my nostalgic heart. Imagine how excited I was when I found this game adapted for math in a 3rd grade colleague’s classroom!
This math game is great practice for Preschool-3rd (or 4th) grade skills. You only need a game of Candy Land and a Sharpie and you are all set!
First, shuffle the color cards. One by one, flip them over and write a numeral, 1-10 on each card. I left the lovely pink cards numberless.
For the double color cards, either write a 10 and a single digit, or 2 numbers that add up to 10 (like 2/8, 3/7 4/6, etc). I did both 🙂
That is it! It’s a super simple set up that can easily be adapted to many age groups.
Preschool– Kids this age need to learn colors, and playing Candy Land is great practice. Preschoolers also learn to recognize their numerals. Have them simply say the number on the card, then move to the color on the card. For one-to-one correspondence, have the preschooler say the numeral, then count and move forward that many spaces. It might be a good idea to pull out all the double color cards, at least at first. This game is so fun for this age, and I almost got sick of playing it with my preschoolers. It is nice to have a new way to play- and this way they get to practice important math skills!
Kindergarten– Kindergartners are still working on one to one correspondence, so simply moving forward the number of spaces on the card is great practice. Once they start with addition, each player pulls two cards and adds them together. They can either move to the colors or count forward the number of spaces written on the card.
First Grade/Second Grade– Continue playing Kindergarten style, and add in subtraction. Simply take the biggest number and subtract the smaller number. Try different ways to play, like start from the end and subtract backwards to the beginning. My 6 year old loves to make up her own versions and rules for the play.
Third Grade– This game is a great multiplication math center, or for multiplication practice at home. Draw two cards and multiply. Move to the colors on both cards. It is so simple, but a fun way to practice multiplication in a new setting. Kids need to ingrain their multiplication tables into their souls or math becomes SO MUCH MORE difficult. By 5th grade it would be so so difficult to do the math- especially manipulating fractions and grouping numbers. At this time math can feel like and exciting puzzle as kids need to find patterns in grouping numbers. In order to find these patterns kids must know multiplication. I love this game as another way to practice (in addition to flashcards and written practice).
What are some of your favorite math games? Let us know in the comments, we all benefit from each others’ experiences!
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