Math in Board Games
Where Do You See Math?
Beginner
Count the spaces on a board game from start to finish together.
Tip: Try Snakes and Ladders, Checkers, or a game you played during your childhood.
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Intermediate
Play a board game using a deck of cards (instead of dice). Flip two cards at once instead of rolling the dice.
Tip: Remove the face (royalty) cards. Aces are 1.
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Experienced
Play a board game using a deck of cards (instead of dice). Flip two cards at once and subtract (or multiply) the cards to see how many spaces to move.
Tip: Always count the spaces on the game board to know how far to move.
References: Betts, P. (2015). Counting on using a number game. Teaching Children Mathematics, 21, 430-436.Doi:org/10.5951/teacchilmath.21.7.0430 Rodrigo Hitos, J., Lantarón Sánchez, S., & López González, M. D. (2021). Card games: a complementary tool for learning mathematics. Siegler & Ramani (2009). Playing Linear Number Board Games--But Not Circular Ones- -Improves Low-Income Preschoolers' Numerical Understanding. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 101(3), 545-560.
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Why is this important?
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Using board games to practice numeracy exposes children to visual and numerical representations of numbers.
Looking for more information?
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To take this activity further, use our Multiplication as Repeated Addition resource to introduce another math procedure!