Make Multiplication Fun with Crafts and Games

I love sharing ways to make learning more fun, and when we can make learning things that kids have to learn a little more interesting, that’s always a good thing.

Multiplication is a vital math basic, but just memorizing multiplication tables isn’t that much fun, and some kids are just bad at it (confession: I never learned mine because my teachers emphasized memorization and I just couldn’t do it).

Math games and projects like these might make it easier for some kids to learn, and more fun for everyone.

Skip counting is a fundamental skill that comes before learning multiplication, and you can practice counting by twos while making art with this activity from Nurture Store. This is a classic butterfly symmetry painting project with a counting twist, but I think you could make it even more of a counting project by representing the numbers on the butterflies themselves. Use two colors on the butterfly that will be 2, for example, or four different shapes for 4 or six spots for 6, etc.

This Reading Mama has a collection of six multiplication table puzzles on two different levels (level two has more pieces). Kids can cut out the puzzle pieces and put them together to make a multiplication table.

Rock Your Homeschool has a great set of printables using multiplication to make color by number mandalas. Each color is indicated by a multiplication problem (like 2×2 is blue) while the sections to color are numbered with the answers (or vice versa). There are pages for each set of math facts from multiples of 2 to 12, as well as a mixed page. These are not free but they are really cute and would be great for a classroom!

Kids of a certain age in mid-elementary school seem to go through a cootie catcher phase, so combine that with learning math facts with these printable multiplication cootie catchers from Artsy Fartsy Mama. These include math facts for multiples of 2 through 9, and as kids choose colors as they play they’ll get a multiplication problem to answer.

Free Printable – Math Calculator Game

Teachers Love This Version Of Monopoly – See Why

Cool Math Art with Parabolic Curves

Adding and Counting Machine

With little kids especially, linking learning to physical activity really does help them learn. Movement can help kids focus, and it just keeps them from sitting still all day, which isn’t good for anyone.

The good news is lots of different learning activities can be adopted to get kids moving while they learn, so let’s look at some math and number activities that use gross motor skills.

Probably the most obvious thing would be hopscotch, which helps kids count while they hop. You can also mix up the numbers, do skip counting with the numbers, give kids a simple math problem and have them hop to the correct answer, and on and on.

This number hop game from Gift of Curiosity is a more chaotic version, with number flash cards on the floor that kids can hop, skip or jump to as you call them out (this one is more for individual number identification than counting). It’s a great indoor option if it’s too hot, cold or rainy out to do traditional hopscotch, too.

This painter’s tape number line idea from Days with Grey doesn’t involve quite as much movement, but kids can move around while they place things on the number line and work on learning about one to one correspondence. In the blog post they use shoes, but you can count anything you’ve got handy. (Be warned when I visited this website had an ad that continually took up the whole page, but you can get the idea pretty quickly.)

One of the important tasks of learning numbers is learning a parent’s phone number just in case it’s ever needed, or how to dial 911 in case on an emergency. Teaching Mama has a great way to practice telephone numbers and get some movement in with a giant telephone keypad made out of paper plates. You can also use this for counting practice, but it’s a great idea for learning phone numbers, too.

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