Math Games for Kids: A Fun Classroom Activity

It is a hard time for teachers when they have to make the kids following the math lesson seriously as for some children who have low motivation in learning usually feel less interesting toward math lesson, their self-esteem in learning will decrease and they will also feel that math is difficult rather than easy and fun. Consequently, they do not pay attention to the lessons or Math class because it makes them feel so sleepy. This behavior can lead them into the distressful and it is hard for them to achieve successful in math lesson too. The teachers should change students' negative behavior toward math into a positive one, so the children will enjoy the lesson and their achievement will increase as well.

Since Children love playing and they learn things when they play, an interesting technique can stimulate their motivation in learning process as motivation one of the factors that can support the successful of learning. One of the finest ways is applying math games as a classroom activity. When teachers apply a fun activity for children such as math games, they will try to overcome their feeling of confusion when they faced with complex tasks because they are entertained and at the same time they are also learning new concepts. There are many kinds of cool math games such as:

1.      Flash card games are games in which the cards drawn with pictures and shown quickly to someone. They are used as part of media and printed with useful and interesting pictures. It also easily handled by teacher. For example, Black dog's math flash cards can be applied in the classroom, it is a fun way to learn math.

2.      Board games, it is kind of games which use board or counters or pieces that are placed or moved on a remarked surface based on a set of rules. Such as chess, Monopoly, snakes and ladders, dice games and etc.

3.      Competition or cooperation math games. Competitive games can be organized in teams, groups, pairs or individuals and there will always be a winner who has collected the most of something, or who is the first to do something. In cooperative games the students have to work together by describing, explaining, clarifying, agreeing and disagreeing, and etc

4.      Interactive math games are kind of games which use computer. It can be played alone (the player against the computer) or with others players. Such as memory and dominoes.

5.      Online games are played online on a computer with internet connection. The player can play this type of games with the players around the world. Online games are very famous now, since the development of technology of computer and science show the significance changes.

6.      Lower or higher math games. This math games can be played with two players or by a whole class in the classroom.  The teacher selects the random number and challenges the children to guess it or a student can select a number therefore the teacher gives the limit of the number that can be selected.

 

Classroom games are excellent technique that can be applied in the classroom as fun activities for children in learning math. The children can enjoy the lesson through the fun activities given for them so whenever they feel entertained of the lesson they will also easy to absorb the concepts much better. Hence the teacher should choose games that appropriate with children for instance, select the games which are simple to play and have simple rules for younger children. In addition, there are many kinds of cool math games which can be used, and the teachers can browse the internet to find the resources of math games can be applied in the classroom.