Find the Answer - Addition & Subtraction Facts

"Find the Answer" is one of the children's favorite games to play. It is easy to make, fast to play, and fun for all ages.

To Make:

Make a collection of ANSWER CARDS that children will be required to find. These can be made using index cards, slips of paper, or any other supply you may have on hand. On each write the answer to a question you wish to drill, review, or test the child(ren) on. The child will read each answer card as (s)he hides it around the room - trying to remember where he placed each card.

QUESTION CARDS can be made using the same type of supplies as above, or the parent/teacher may verbally state a question.

You will want to keep the number of card pairs small for young children. Older children can handle more pairs. I still limit the number of pairs we play with at one time to about 10 even with the older boys.

Here Diana is reading one of her QUESTION CARDS. We are drilling math facts.

She takes a closer look. That might help.



After hunting around the room, she shows the correct ANSWER CARD she found.

The child will go around looking at each card they hid attempting to find the ANSWER CARD that they need. 

Diana shows the QUESTION and ANSWER CARDS together.

Wesley shares the cards that he has put together.

 Diana and Wesley played at the same time. I gave them each cards to hide and I had a set of QUESTION CARDS for each of them.

Wesley found the 6 he needed hidden in the bottom of the Charlotte's activity seat.

 Diana searched and searched for one of the ANSWER CARDS but could not find it. When the children are hiding their ANSWER CARDS it can be a big help for me to watch where they are hiding them so I can give suggestions of places to look. This can be important. Some time ago we were playing Find the Answer - States & Capitals. One ANSWER CARD could not be found while we played. Several days later, one of the children found it hidden between a couple books on a shelf.

Diana asks for help finding a card she needs.



The children bring their ANSWER CARDS up and match them to a Question Card

Think of all the possibilities for this game! We have used it for phonics, math, states & capitals, clocks & time, and words to read... so far.





Addition & Subtraction Equations - Education Cubes

Diana has recently been introduced to subtraction on paper. So the minus sign is rather new to her. I noticed that she was treating all problems as though they were addition. So I made an education cube with 3 plus signs and 3 minus signs.  The children took turn tossing the cube and shouting out PLUS or MINUS.

After a few minutes of this we changed to ADD or SUBTRACT. When I let them shout, they think it is a GREAT game! This rule depends on whether or not the baby is napping OR the noise level I can tolerate at the moment.

Then we added two number cubes. I kept the numbers low for Diana's benefit for now. (We have used larger numbers with Wesley, and much larger numbers with the older boys.)

Diana and Wesley took turns tossing the three cubes, lining them up and giving the correct solution to the equation.

Diana would get very excited when it was an equation she KNEW the answer to. For other, harder ones, she would do some counting to get the solution. By the time we finished playing she had memorized several more facts.

 

At times, Wesley offered some assistance.....

Be sure to check out some of the other games we play with these education cubes.

Roman Numeral Bingo

A game all ages can play!

Bingo is a game that is fun for all ages. It gives all players the same chance to win. Any skill can turn bingo into a fun educational game for learning, drill, or review.

I first made this game many years ago for my own children to play. Later it was used in the classroom. Now I am enjoying it with my grandchildren.

Charles playing Roman Numeral Bingo

I got the game out again because Charles, 7, has been working with Roman numerals.

Charles looks for the number on his card.

The calling cards show a Roman numeral. I usually ask Charles what number it is as he needs the most drill.

A calling card.

At times I will ask Douglas what the answer is, but since he is 9, he knows them quite well. However, this does give him a bit of review and lets me know that he still remembers them well.

Douglas has a nearly filled card.



A playing card

The playing cards have the numbers on them in a random fashion. Each card is different. The cards do not all have the same numbers. In this way we can play "black out" and not all win at the same time.

We used the game to begin showing Wesley what some of the letters represented and then helped him figure out a few of the cards.

Wesley works on filling his card.

Diana, 4, gets some practice reading numbers...


Diana, 4, plays along.

 Even though he was just beginning to learn to read Roman numerals, Wesley was able to win the game today. Bingo is a great equalizer!

Check out the fun we had when we made Roman Numeral Coins 

Here is a link to Roman Numeral Oh Nuts! A fun card game for drilling Roman numerals.