Addition & Subtraction: Math Games for Elementary Students

Prevent math anxiety — by playing games!

You’ll love these math games because they give your child a sturdy foundation for understanding addition and subtraction.

Help your child learn mental flexibility by playing with numbers, from basic math facts to the hundreds and thousands. Logic games build strategic thinking skills, and dice games give students hands-on experience with probability.

Addition & Subtraction features 23 kid-tested games, offering a variety of challenges for elementary-age students. Chapters include:

• Tens and Teens: Master the concept of number bonds — the relationship between a whole number and the parts that combine to make it — and build a logical foundation for future math.
• Numbers to One Hundred: Develop mental math skills for working with larger numbers. Practice using place value, addition, and subtraction.
• Mixed Operations: Give mental muscles a workout with games that require number skills and logical thinking.
• Logic and Probability: Logic games sharpen inductive and deductive thinking skills, while games of chance build an intuition for probability.

Math games protect your child from math phobia. Games pump up your child’s mental muscle, reduce the fear of failure, and generate a positive attitude toward mathematics.

Parents can use these games to enjoy quality time with your children. Classroom teachers like them as warm-ups and learning center activities or for a relaxing review day at the end of a term. If you are a tutor or homeschooler, make games a regular feature in your lesson plans to build your students’ math skills.

So what are you waiting for? Clear off a table, grab a deck of cards, and let's play some math!

Denise Gaskins is a veteran homeschooling mother of five who has taught or tutored at every level from preschool to undergraduate physics. She loves math, and she delights in sharing that love with young people. "Math is not just rules and rote memory," Denise says. "Math is like ice cream, with more flavors than you can imagine. And if all you ever do is textbook math, that's like eating broccoli-flavored ice cream!"
As author of the popular blog Let's Play Math, Denise helps parents and teachers open their students' eyes to the variety and richness of mathematics. Her articles and books explore the adventure of learning math as a playful mental game.