Build Math Confidence with These Fun Math Games
Does math stress you (or your kids) out? Are math homework sessions filled with dread, tears of frustration, or outbursts that leave you questioning whether it’s really worth it to push through? Math anxiety is extremely common, and kids often express this tension about math in ways that make it seem hard to overcome. Building math confidence in a way that is fun can help them feel more self-assured and willing to tackle new math concepts as they come. Math games are a great way to do this!
Why Play Math Games?
Games that target the key skills your brain uses for math tasks are a fun, engaging way to strengthen your brain. Math confidence doesn’t just involve memorizing math facts or formulas (even though that can help). Building core learning skills like attention, processing speed, visual processing, logic, and executive functioning can take you farther into easier learning and less resistance in math tasks.
The games we list below contain a mix of purely math knowledge games vs. games that target underlying learning skills. Using a combination can make even math-hesitant students realize it’s not so bad!
Great Math Games for All Skill Levels:
Sum Swamp
This game is great for early math learners who need practice with basic addition, subtraction, and number awareness. Building confidence with these basic math facts will make future more complex tasks less daunting.
Qwirkle
Reminiscent of dominoes, Qwirkle requires players to pay attention to shapes and patterns while also strategizing, which are all key math skills.
Ticket to Ride
Another game without actual numbers, Ticket to Ride builds underlying math skills like logic, strategy, visual processing, and attention (some friendly sabotage can also happen – it’s a sign of strong strategy skills!)
Prime Climb
For kids aged 10+, Prime Climb can be a great game to build number awareness and mental math skills, along with thinking speed and attention.
Cribbage
This classic requires sustained attention, working memory, and mental math skills to score exactly 121 points with different card combinations.
24 Game
This game might be too “math-y” for some of the more math-averse people in your family, but once you get it, it can be lots of fun! Using the numbers on the card, you race to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to get a final answer of 24.
Proof
A fast-paced mental math game, Proof requires players to spot a math equation using numbers laid out in front of you. Whoever finds the most correct combinations wins! This game can be customized for younger learners to just practice addition or subtraction, but the numbers go all the way up to 100 for more of a challenge for older players.
Want more ideas?
- Click HERE for a list of games that target working memory
- Click HERE for a list of games that strengthen attention skills
Dig Deeper: What’s the Root Cause of Math Anxiety?
At the root, all learning happens through a series of cognitive skills in your brain. Struggles with math are often a sign of a cognitive weakness that may be impacting ALL areas of life and learning. Students who feel tension or struggle to grasp math concepts can also have trouble with things like:
- Following multi-step directions
- Remembering how to get somewhere, even if you’ve gone there a lot
- Recognizing patterns (whether visually, in speech, or in reading)
- Strategizing and problem-solving efficiently
- Being able to break a larger task into smaller pieces to complete it successfully.
Beyond just passing math class, these are real-life skills that impact day-to-day life. Strengthening them at the root can make you more successful!
Curious about targeted math skills training that considers your unique brain strengths and weaknesses? Click here to learn more >>
