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.
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.
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?
Using board games to practice numeracy exposes children to visual and numerical representations of numbers.
Looking for more information?
To take this activity further, use our Multiplication as Repeated Addition resource to introduce another math procedure!