When kids first begin to add two digit numbers, it’s more important to help them develop strategies and a solid understanding of place value than to teach formulas or procedures. Understanding place value is the basis for the rest of their math learning, so it should under gird everything you do in the early years. This spring themed addition game is designed to do just that.
The goal of this seemingly simple game is to help kids deepen their understanding of place value, practice addition with a hundreds chart and give them a solid foundation for developing their mental math skills.
If you are just introducing addition of two digit numbers, or your older ones need some review, this is an easy game, with multiple variations.
Addition Maths Game
Game ideas and variations are included in the download, making it easy for you to pull out and play.
In addition, there is a recording page for kids which includes a hundreds chart to help them solve the addition problems, as well as a set of 24 matching cards.
The matching cards include addition problems with whole tens (10, 20, 30, etc.) as well as ones (no regrouping or borrowing required).
Once you print and cut out the cards and print recording pages for each child, you’re ready to play!
Why Use a Hundreds Chart as a Visual Model:
There are a lot of reasons why a hundreds chart is a valuable tool in math. First, to really understand and become proficient in math, visual models are essential. Several pathways in the brain that gets used when we solve a math problem are visual processing pathways.
This means we need to be intentional about providing, using and creating visual models with kids to help develop these parts of the brain.
A hundreds chart is a helpful visual because it makes it easier to see the patterns in our base ten number system.
Plus, it’s helpful for addition based on place value (like this activity) because kids can see that adding tens means moving up and down on the hundreds chart (and the value of the ones place doesn’t change), whereas adding ones means moving left and right (and the value of the tens place doesn’t change).
The goal is that rather than telling kids this or having them memorize facts, they notice these things on their own with repeated exposure to the hundreds chart.
Then when you take away the chart and give them these problems as a mental math challenge, they will have developed these strategies and be ready for it.
How to Play Spring Addition Memory Game:
If you have multiple players, the first way you can use this set is as a typical memory matching game.
Once your cards are cut out, simply lay them face down in an array on the table.
Kids then take turns flipping over 2 cards. The goal is to find an addition problem and it’s solution.
They can use their hundreds chart to help them solve the problem, and if they have the matching solution, they keep the pair and write the true equation on their paper.
Play continues this way until all the matches are found.
In the end, the player with the most matches wins.
Once kids are ready, you can play the same way, but without the recording page and hundreds chart. This increases the challenge, because now kids must solve the problems mentally, remembering the importance of place value.
Independent Addition Practice:
One final idea for this game is to use it as an independent activity. To set it up, print a recording page and all the game cards.
Then shuffle and place the cards face down in a stack.
Your child then draws a card from the stack. If it is an addition problem, they use their hundreds chart to solve it, and record the equation on their paper.
If it is a solution card, they come up with their own addition problem equal to that solution and write that on their paper.
Once they have correctly written 10 addition equations, they’re finished!
Place Value Activities for Kids
I hope you enjoy playing this game as you help your kids explore place value and addition. Here are some more place value activities:
- Free Pirate Place Value Game
- Free Place Value PB & J
- Place Value Puzzles (with visuals and expanded form)
- Free Place Value Ice Cream Match
- Addition and Subtraction Equation Search (like a word search, but for math!)
- Free Place Value Ice Cream Sundae
Download Spring Addition Maths Games
Before you download your free pack you agree to the following:
- This set is for personal and classroom use only.
- This printable set may not be sold, hosted, reproduced, or stored on any other website or electronic retrieval system.
- Graphics Purchased and used with permission
- All downloadable material provided on this blog is copyright protected.
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Bethany is the mom behind the blog, Math Geek Mama, a website dedicated to making math fun and engaging, while building a strong conceptual understanding of mathematics. When she's not playing with numbers, she is exploring with her four little ones, drinking way too much coffee, or soaking up the chaos of everyday life. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
