It occurs to me that as someone who advocates playing games in math as a way to improve student affect, I should post some of my favorite games. I have been reading a great book lately, Games for Math by Peggy Kaye. It’s not a new book (published in 1988), but it’s a great one. One of my favorite games is called Star Count, and it paves the way to learning multiplication tables. It’s appropriate for Grades 1-3. To play, you need paper, pencil, and dice. Roll the die to see who goes first (you can choose whoever rolls the smaller or the larger number, depending on what your child rolls!).
The first player rolls the die and draws that many circles on the piece of paper. Then, s/he rolls again, and draws that many stars in each circle. When s/he finishes, s/he counts up the number of stars total, and that is the score for that round. Write the score next to a large star, right on the page. With third graders, you can count up and write down the number of circles (for example, 3), then the number of stars per circle (for example, 4), and then write the total (12) on the sheet, so that your student has a pictorial representation of a times table fact (3 x 4 = 12 ) on his scorecard. The second player then repeats the process, and the player with the larger number of stars wins. You can play best 2 out of 3, 3 out of 5, etc.
Let the student choose their own colors to draw the circle and stars – sounds obvious, but allowing for individual choice actually increases investment in the game and focuses attention. With younger students, stick to a 6-sided die and a simple total of stars. With older students, a 12-sided die may be more appropriate (and the novelty of a 12-sided die sparks interest all on its own), and try writing down the math fact – can they predict future outcomes based on prior trials? What about 4 x 3 = 12? Why is that the same as 3 x 4? How is 3 x 4 the same as 4 + 4 + 4? Be ready to praise them for insights that arise, but don’t push your child into too heady an explanation. Remember, this is a game, not a math lesson. If your child is confused at any point, back off and return to just counting stars.
The beauty of this game is that it works with young children who are net yet learning rote times tables in school. When they do start having to memorize their times table, they now have a memory to connect it to, with a richer understanding of what it means to multiply, not to mention a positive memory of math.
