Make Math Fun With Easter Educational Activities and Games

 Easter Educational Activities Will Help Make Math Fun

Kids will  enjoy playing with Easter math worksheets 

Manipulating numbers  without calling it "math" is one of the best things you can provide for your child.  Holiday give us a chance to make math fun using  whichever holiday it is as a background theme for educational based games. Easter educational activities  are the current seasons holiday that can be used for  creating different ways for kids to have fun with  numbers in a bunch of different ways.  This gives the kids a chance to really work on mastering those facts. If you  have a fun worksheet with a riddle, a puzzle, or a game that will also bring out a little competition to the table and may-be the motivation a kid needs to have a good time playing around with numbers  to make math fun.

Take a look at this sample game from Kids Easter Activities. 

Think of  5 Different Fun Ways you can use this grid to make math fun for kids.

 

What this activity does is use the grid to create fact families. What did you come up with? 

Sudoku puzzles are really popular and can be a way to combine number fun and problem solving .  If you can find a decent supply of  great pencil and paper games and activities along with printable math games, you coule even end up making a mini-puzzle-n-game book, kind of like what you see in the grocery stores, only these will be designed to  exactly match the math skill levels that need reviewed.  Easter educational activities, or any other holiday themes packets, will be easy to make. With the Internet and the ability to download riect to your hard drive, there should never be a problem finding fun math games, riddles and puzzles for any level of math.

  Discover out more about how to make math fun with printable games for kids, educational Easter activities (as well as other holidays)...
... GO NOW to my website: MAKE MATH FUN! .

Use School Vacations To Make Math More Fun At Home

How can you make math more fun during vacations?

Face it, our kids get bored when they are on a vacation from their normal school routine. It is just the way kids are, so it does not matter if it is the traditional ten day to two week winter holiday break in December ,  the one week long spring break, a long three day weekend, or the almost three month summer vacation. The fact is that when they are away from the structure that a school day, gives them, where people outside the home are keeping them pretty busy all day, boredom will set in!  Parent should explore ways to  kill two birds with one stone by adding variety into those vacation days, while keeping those brain cells active. Fun math games are one thing to have on hand.  Easy one day science fair projects is another, that make you use your math skills while doing some simple experiments.


If young families can start early on, and do hands on projects during some free time, they will be thankful down the line that they built this habit into their regular routines. It will make leading their kids towards some fun educational stuff when bored seem like a reward and not a punishment.  The number of resources out there where  a parent can find some fun math games, and great science projects are  are endless  Once you find some that are teacher created, kid tested, and have proven that they pass the cool factor, you will be set.

This may be hard to believe, but one of the best things a child can say to you is, "I am bored." Really it is a fact!  Because that lets you give the absolute best possible answer, which is "Oh, I am so sorry for you; I know you will figure out something to do." It is really important for kids ( adults too) to be able to find ways to fill up their free time, it is one of the best creative problem solving situations you have!  so, if you started early, and established the habit of doing these fun hands-on games and experiments, your kids will know they are there and where to find them. Hopefully, they will on their own know how to make math more fun and get out one of the activities or go to the computer and download a great science project boredom buster.

It is really simple to establish these kind of habits in your family's normal course of events. the first thing to do is go online and really search for some good, high quality digital products. The best ones were written by teachers and used with kids.  Home school parents have come up with a lot of these sorts of things as well.  Starting in kindergarten, get into the habit of have things set up and ready to use over the long weekends. One time it might be a fun math game another time it could be a home science project for kids. Same thing with longer vacations.  You won't try to make them do these things everyday, but at some point you can bring out a hands on activity that you know they will enjoy. As the kids grow older,  what will happen is that you will gradually move from being the one to have everything set up and materials available to handing over the decisions to the kids and let them pick the projects they want to have on hand.

It is important to remember that vacation is vacation, and everyone's brain needs time off as well. If our brains did not need a break, then there would be no sleeping in our lives. Everyone has had the experience of feeling sharp an ready to go the first day back to work after a vacations.  Kids need the same thing. However, that does not mean we promote brain couch potatoes!  You want to get the kid's brains actively involved in fun math games, great science projects and othere puzzles and games so they can use reasoning skills, and  learn something while they are at it!

SUGGESTIONS:  These are some things I found, and think will work well for most parents to have on hand.  I am sure there are other things out there , but at least this will show you what I am talking about.  Look for free giveaways, newsletters that will give you some free games an activities.

This is a link to information on how to make math more fun with digital math games, holiday themed activities for all ages and  skill levels. Once you have something like this, you are set for years to come.
CLICK HERE:  MAKE MATH FUN

Here is an amazing resource for home science projects for kids. These were created by a teacher/mother, with four kids who
CLICK HERE:  ONE DAY SCIENCE PROJECTS

Look At The Pros and Cons Of Using Fun Math Games to Make Math More Fun For All Students

Decide for yourself!

The Pros of fun math games:

1. Kids think they are getting out of doing work. The truth is they are doing more work than they would have with worksheets.
2. Motivation to play a game is stronger than doing a pencil and paper assignment.
3. Lets the kids move around, gets rid of the "squigglies."
4. Builds cooperative learning.
5. Creates positive bonds between different students.
6. Multisensory experience. The students see, hear and do as they play games. Add manipulate objects and you have the best hand on learning lesson.

The Cons of  fun math games:

1. Too much importance on winning. One poor loser will ruin it for everyone.
2. The classroom will be too noisy.
3. It takes too long to learn the rules and find the best small groups.
4. Classroom has no way to move things around so kids can get into game groups
5. Teacher does not want to take the time to prepare and print out the games.

The bottom line:

• Once all the games are created and organized...
• Once the basic rules of the games are learned...
• Students can get set up and ready to play in a jiffy. 
• There is nothing  better than multisensory reinforcement activities. 
• You cannot go wrong. These games are perfect resource to use  to make math more fun.

Ready to make math more fun? Use this link for information on an all in one resource of fun printable math games and activities that are teacher created and kid tested.

CLICK HERE:   MAKE MATH FUN

Seven Ways To Have Fun With Math Using Math Card Games

Kids today are always coming into class and asking teachers if they can play a game today. It gets annoying at times!  Math card games however, are the perfect way to keep daily flash card drills going, but insert that practice into a card game.  Here is an article I wrote  awhile ago about seven different ideas you can use to bring card games into your classroom.  While reading, you will hopefully think of seven even better ideas you can use!

Have Fun With Math Card Games - Seven Ways to Use Card Games in Math Class

By Sue Gnagy Fegan

http://ezinearticles.com/?Have-Fun-With-Math-Card-Games---Seven-Ways-to-Use-Card-Games-in-Math-Class&id=3092332
Using a deck of cards in math class can be a quick fun way to have fun with math. A perfect way to quickly review or reinforce math facts and concepts is for students to have fun with math card games. It does not matter if you use regular cards (Ace to King) and make up fun math games to use with them or create specialized decks based on math fact drill or concepts being taught (i.e. fractions, factors, place value). What does matter is that the students are manipulating these cards and actively involved in retrieving the answers and having fun at the same time.

1. Use a deck of fact cards when playing a board game. Simple as can be, roll the dice whatever number is on the dice is the number of fact cards that must be read before moving.
2. Make memory matching sets. The problem on one card the answer on another. Be careful not to have too many problems with the same answer. This kind of memory game should only have about 10-15 problems, 20-30 cards total.
3. This leads to playing what we used to call war. The answer takes the problem. Add a second or third set so multiple problems and answers are there to make it interesting. Another variation would be have only problems, no answer cards and the highest answer takes the cards.
4. Use a standard deck of cards (Ace -King). Play any traditional card game, but make the student do something with the numbers. If it is a discard game, they add or multiply the card being discarded to the one already there. If it is one where you place three of a kind , or three in a sequence down you have to do something with them, add the all up, add the first two subtract the next one. Name all the factors using the numbers and so on.
5. Use a standard deck (A-9 only) for place value. They have their decks of cards, call out a number see how long it takes them to find the numbers and get them in the correct order. Face cards can be commas.
6. Fun Card games where you fish around for cards. This is based on an old favorite where the players have 4-5 cards and pick up from a scattered pile and ask others if they have certain cards. The goal is four of a kind, placed on the table. Put problems only on the card. The question is, "Do you have a problem with the answer ____?" Make sure there only four problems with the same answer.
7. Use a popular card game with numbers, colors, wilds, skips and Draw 2/4 cards. Play it with the standard rules. The wilds would change the operation. Start out adding, every time you put a card down you add it to the one already there. Older students keep a running total. When a wild is played the operation changes. A teacher will have to decide if they want to mess with division!

As you can see the possibilities are endless, these are just some ideas to get the creative juices moving and help you think of ways to have fun with math card games in your math class. Card games can be quick and a great reinforcement drill as students do not mind seeing the same facts over an over again when a bit of competition is thrown in.

TIME SAVER TIP:  
Discover creative math card games created by a teacher and used in classrooms to make math more fun for your students.
CLICK HERE

Make Math Fun--Parents Need To Avoid Passing Negative Math Feelings Along To Their Child

This is a make math fun article I wrote about a common concern for parents who grew never believing that math is fun, and pretty much just hating math. They feel that they will never be able to help make math more fun for their own child. There are all kinds or reasons why people grow up with this kind of math phobia. The point is, you do not want to influence your own child and have them grow up with the same anxiety about math. This article gives you some ideas of simple habits to get into and things you can do to make math fun in your house and hopefully many negative feelings.

 

Math is Fun - Tips For Parents - Avoid Passing Your Dislike For Math to Your Child

By Sue Gnagy Fegan 

 

http://ezinearticles.com/?Math-is-Fun---Tips-For-Parents---Avoid-Passing-Your-Dislike-For-Math-to-Your-Child&id=3118308

A common question found in educational forums is, "How do I avoid passing my dislike for math to my child?" These parents will cringe at the statement, "math is fun." They have an extra challenge beyond normal parenting concerns as they want to hide their dislike for math from their child. There are many reasons why an adult might have this severe dislike of math. The key issue for these parents however, is not what went wrong for them, but to put all that aside and focus on creating a positive atmosphere to make math fun for your child. The article will give a few tips to get a parent started.

Creating a number friendly atmosphere at home is important. Begin by creating a math rich atmosphere. Early picture books to read with your child should have numbers and counting and others with matching patterns games and puzzles . Watch popular PBS children's shows and quality educational DVDs . The parent who dislikes math needs to create a math is fun atmosphere for themselves as well. Begin by actively participating in all activities with your child. This way you will have some fun with early math ideas and establish a positive relationship with your child.

Once the child starts school, it is a good news bad news scenario. The good news is teachers take control of math education. If you created a rich foundation, they should be prepared to take it from there. Homework is for the teachers, not the parents, so separate yourself from correcting homework. That is the teachers job. Encourage conversation about the math homework, the student might explain what they are doing, or play school and pretend to teach you!

The bad news is you cannot disregard your quest to create a positive atmosphere at home. Finding some fun math games to play at home that match what is being taught at school will help keep the topic low key. If the parent with a dislike of math plays these fun games and activities from the get go, then they will build their own comfort level and possibly learn some math concepts for the first time, filling in holes from their own math education.

There is no reason to totally hide your feelings about math from your child. But it is not healthy to dwell on it. Something matter of fact like that math was not your favorite topic in school, but Aunt or Uncle So and So loved it, states the truth without dwelling on it. When the child has trouble with math homework one night, a confirming statement, with a hug, "I remember how it felt when I did not understand." or "Have you done the best you can?" That is all you can ask for.

Creating a positive yet rich atmosphere at home and showing how math can be used in everyday life is the best way to approach this issue. You may never believe yourself that math is fun, but you can raise children to have a positive experience.

Here is a link where you can find out about some fun math games you could have on hand to play with your child at home.  They should help make math more fun not only for your child, but help you feel better about it as well!
Make Math Fun

Math Homework- Make Math More Fun By Assigning Fun Math Card Games

The following is an article I wrote about using math card games as a homework assignment.  The debate could go on and on about how much homework is necessary, and even if it is needed at all, but with math, the everyday practice of skills learned in class seem to make a big difference. Just think, if you were to make math more fun by having homework assignments that include math card games that actually give the same drill that they would get on a workbook page...why not try it? It would certainly be worth looking into, wouldn't it?  What you could do is every once and awhile use a card game instead of flash card drills!

Make Math More Fun - Use Printable Math Card Games For Homework

By Sue Gnagy Fegan

http://ezinearticles.com/?Make-Math-More-Fun---Use-Printable-Math-Card-Games-For-Homework&id=3400720

Math homework is a fact of life. The extra practice each night helps solidify concepts being taught and creates reinforcing connections in the brain to enhance memory. Typical homework is a worksheet or two with exercises to complete or a page from a text book. Creating homework around card games that can be printed out from the computer could be just as effective learning tool while and will also be homework that continues to make math more fun even while away from school. Card games can be played with parents who are always wanting to know what they can do to help. Chances are with a card game the student will go above and beyond the call and play the game more often than the assignment says.

Innovative Involvement:

• Print out a blank card game template and have the students write problems on the cards.
• Give the students the cards to cut up to use in games. These can be cards already printed out or cards you created.
• Give the students one copy of a set of problems to use for a card game and have them create the second or third copy needed to make the game.
• Students can add to their decks of cards when new facts or concepts are taught.
• Let the student think of ways to adapt a card game they know to use fun math cards.

Happy Holiday Homework

• Math teachers would prefer students to do some work over long weekends or holiday vacations.
• Having several math card games for the students to play at home over the holiday will make it feel less like homework and make math more fun, even if it is a homework assignment.
• Educational math games usually allow a limited number of facts to be used, so the same fact will be practiced multiple times in the course of one game.
• Choose some different games that include higher level thinking skills or includes a problem solving element.

Parent Playing Practices

• Students want to please their parents, so they should not be put in a situation where the work is too hard. Be careful in your choice of facts used in these card games.
• Make sure the problems are ones that need solid review and reinforcement and are not ones that students only have a tenuous hold on. This also eliminated parent anxiety when they students do not know something.
• Make sure the math card games sent home are based on the element of chance, this will level the playing field.
• Have the rules written out clearly so the student is not left trying to explain the game.

Homework does not have to be boring and can be engaging with fun math card games incorporated into the homework mix. Whether these games are sent home for holiday homework,, over summer vacation or just for a long three day weekend, they will help to not only make math more fun at school but home as well.

It is absolutely possible for a teacher to make the materials and activities they use challenging and still have fun in their classroom and for homework. Keep your students interested, active and engaged. It makes the biggest difference in their overall learning experience.

Discover some printable math games that were created and used in classrooms by a real live teacher!  Digital downloads--easy as pie---

Click Here:

Fun Educational Christmas Activites For Teachers To Use As Homework

Christmas season is a busy time for teachers, so having a supply of printable Christmas activities and games  to use as homework assignments will be a huge time saver. The students will be happy to have some fun stuff to do, and the teacher workload has been reduced. Everyone will be happy.  Here is an article I wrote on this topic giving some suggestions on different kinds of games to have on hand.

Classroom Teachers Need Fun Educational Christmas Activities For Holiday Homework Assignments

By Sue Gnagy Fegan

http://ezinearticles.com/?Classroom-Teachers-Need-Fun-Educational-Christmas-Activities-For-Holiday-Homework-Assignments&id=3349448

Christmas comes at a time when it is important to keep the curriculum gong strong, but it is also necessary to give students a break. Teachers might include homework assignments that use fun educational Christmas activities and not have to worry about losing forward progress. Most teachers take the time to create some of these on their own, others will benefit from buying activities to download.

Here is a helpful list teachers can use when choosing fun educational Christmas activities to create, purchase or download as a printable worksheets or games:

1. Word Search Puzzles-Create these with programs found online or use graph paper to customize them yourself. Printable puzzles are easily purchased online, downloaded and saved. Make sure the words used are at the reading level of your students. Boost vocabulary with word search puzzles by including ways students are required to use the words independently.
2. Fill in the Blank Word Puzzles- This sort of fun Christmas activity might be unscrambling letters to make words, or secret messages that can be solved. Students have another opportunity to build and practice their vocabulary during an in class review or orally reciting a sentences as they review their homework assignments in class.
3. Math Worksheets- Christmas math worksheets are often just pages decorated with candy canes or stockings and possibly a secret word. Christmas math homework could include something different that needs reviewed or a touch up like place value, or factors or review of order of operations. Look for quality fun math games and activities to use as a fun Christmas homework assignments.
4. Writing Prompts- Teachers are always searching for different variety of prompts to use for writing assignments. Motivating writing prompts on a festive holiday templates are an essential resource to have on hand for classroom and holiday homework.
5. Story Starters- Christmas is perfect timing to put those plot charts lessons to good use use and have children write their own holiday story, with characters, conflict, the climax and a resolution. Using holiday graphic organizers to help plan the plot elements ahead of time is a good motivator. This is a perfect long term assignment, with the story due during Christmas week.
6. Logic Puzzles and Mazes- Logic puzzles requiring students to solve mysteries or plan ahead when making moves to win games are a simple yet effective way to get students to use their problem solving skills. Mazes are an excellent form of problem solving activity that is disguised as fun!many of these sorts of homework assignments are games can involve the family as well.

Christmas comes each year whether teachers like it or not. As the month of December progresses, then it gets harder to keep students focused. Having some fun educational Christmas activities to use as holiday homework assignments may be the perfect thing to tap into their excitement and energy, and hopefully help keep their brains focused on some academics.

Here is link to all the  information you will need for where to find a ready supply of  educational Christmas activities you could possibly want to not only  make math more fun, but creative writing, and problem solving riddles and puzzles as well!

CLICK HERE:  KIDS CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES