Here are some math games that I played with my children when they were young. They are great math games to play with children in preschool and kindergarten. You only need basic supplies to play these math games.

Math Games Materials Needed:

• Counting Bears (or similar – keep away from young children who still put things in their mouth)
• 2 Dice (keep away from young children who still put things in their mouth)
• Standard Deck of Playing Cards (used frequently)
• Home-made Math Dot Cards (coming soon)
• Home-made Math Dice Bingo Cards (card set one, card set two)
• Pattern Tiles

Match the Dots Math Games

These are the simplest math games and a great place to start.

Skills: Matching

Advanced Skills: Counting

You will need to print out a set of math dot cards onto card stock paper to play this game. The math dot cards are designed so that 4 cards fit on one sheet of paper. You will need to print the dots on one side and the numbers on the other. Alternatively you can print out both sides and glue them together. If you want your cards to last a long time you can laminate them.

Match the Dots Basic

Use the cards with the dot side up. Line up the cards in numeric order. Simply place a bear on each dot and count as you go. For younger students only start with a few cards (such as 1-3) and add more cards as your student gains confidence in counting. * 1. ** 1, 2. *** 1, 2, 3.

Match the Dots Advanced

To make this math game more advanced, use the cards with the numeric side up. Shuffle the cards. Have your student place the number of bears on the card as the number states. Flip the card over to check. There should be one bear per dot. You can start with just a few cards to begin with and add in more as your student gains confidence in counting. This is a game your student can play on his own once he has gained confidence in counting because he can self check his work. When your student has mastered this game he is ready to begin games that include adding or comparing.

Guess the Bears Math Game

This is another very basic math game but young kids will enjoy it.

Skills: Counting

Advanced Skills: Parts of a Whole, Subtraction

Start with a fixed number of counting bears in your hand. For the earliest student I suggest starting with just 4 or 5 bears. Count the total number of bears with your child. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Now hide the bears behind your back and hold a random number of bears in your hand (or you can use a cup if easier). Have your child guess how many you have. Then show how many bears you were holding and count them together.

For a more advanced version of this math game, you can have your child tell you how many bears are still behind your back once you have counted the bears in your hand. So if you had started with 6 bears and were holding 4 bears, there would still be two hidden bears. As your child grows in counting confidence, start with more total bears.

War: Classic Card Math Game

You can play a simplified version of this classic kids’ card game.

Skills: Counting, Comparing Numbers, Adding

Remove the face cards from you playing card deck. For an even simpler version, remove higher cards from the deck.

Shuffle the deck and then deal face down an equal amount of cards to all players until all the cards have been passed out. Place your stack of cards in front of you face down. Have all players turn over the top card. Whoever has the highest number wins all the cards turned up. If two or more players turn up the same high card then a war is necessary to determine the winner. Each player in the war should place 2 cards from the top of his deck face down and then one more card face up. Whoever has the highest card showing now is the winner. If there is another tie, complete another war. When a player has run out of cards he can re-shuffle any cards he has won and place them face down to act as his new deck. The winner is the last person with cards or the player with the most cards after a certain amount of time.

For a more advanced version of this math game, you can flip over two cards at a time and use the total value of your two cards to determine who has the highest card value.

Memory Matching Math Games

Most kids will recognize this math game right away. You can play it with several variations to increase difficulty.

Skills: Matching

Separate out two suits of cards keeping only 2-9s, set the rest of the cards aside. You should have a deck that is comprised of 16 cards. Shuffle the cards together and then place them face down in a 4×4 grid pattern. Have the first player flip over two cards. If they are a match they can be removed from the board and placed in front of the player who found them. Finding a match also allows the player to go again. If they are not a match flip them back face down. It is now the next player’s turn. Continue in this manner until all the pairs are found. The player who found the most pairs is the winner.

Memory Matching Variation: Perfect Tens

Skills: Matching, Adding

Add the aces and tens to the cards sorted in above. For this game aces have a face value of one. You should now have a deck that is comprised of 20 cards. Lay out the cards face down in a 4 x 5 pattern. Play as the memory game above BUT instead of finding matching face value cards, instead look for cards whose total value equals ten. The only exception to this rule is that the cards with a ten on them can be paired together, likewise the fives can be paired together because their total equals ten. Suit does not matter when making pairs.

Acceptable combinations are:

• 10+10
• ace+9
• 2+8
• 3+7
• 4+6
• 5+5

Memory Matching Variation: Perfect Fives

Skills: Matching, Adding

Sort the decks keeping all four suits but only keep aces, and 2-5s. For this game aces have a face value of one. You should now have a deck that is comprised of 20 cards. Lay out the cards face down in a 4 x 5 pattern. Play as the memory game above BUT instead of finding matching face value cards, instead look for cards whose total value equals five. The only exception to this rule is that the cards with a five on them can be paired together. Suit does not matter when making pairs.

Acceptable combinations are:

• 5+5
• 4+ace
• 3+2

Math Dice Bingo

• Math Dice Bingo Cards (link available at top of page)
• Counters (counting bears or coins work well)
• 2 Dice

Print out the math dice bingo cards onto card stock paper. They have been designed to fit 2 on a page. Cut them apart and laminate them for durability.

To play you will need one pair of dice and a bingo card for each player. Have the first player roll the dice. Add the total of the dice. The player can then place a counter on his bingo card to cover one of the numbers. You can only place one counter per dice roll even if you have more than one correct number on your board. Each player only places counters on his own turn. If you roll a number you no longer have, your turn is skipped. Let the next person roll. The first person to have five counters in a row wins.

Roll Steal Optional Rule: If you roll a number that is no longer available on your card, it can be stolen by the player sitting to your left. If they don’t have one available then it goes to the next person and so on. Who ever “steals” the roll gets to cover that square and it then becomes his turn and he gets to immediately roll. Play continues from that person as normal so some players may have been skipped. If no one can cover a square then play just passes to the next player as normal.

Game Board Options: Multiple players can use the same card if you want to print out additional copies. Game play will be different even if more than one player has the same card because each player has to roll for his own spaces and then choose which squares to cover. If you would rather make more cards yourself, you can print out these blanks ones available here. Place the numbers on the game board in this frequency: one 2 and 12; two each of 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11; three 6 and 8; and four 7.