Summer Math Games for Kids

I know the last thing most kids want to do during the summer is anything that feels like school, but the truth is doing little things to reinforce the learning they did the previous year will make the next year easier for them.

Also true: you can make this learning fun by turning it into game time.

These printable math puzzles from Living Life and Learning are great to use in the car when you’re on a road trip, or just any time you need a little activity to pass the time. They involve adding numbers up to 10 and include cute summer-themed graphics as well as the numbers.

Help the bee get back to the hive with math in these math maze puzzles from Artsy Fartsy Mama. There are versions for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division for kids of different levels to enjoy.

Of course math games are even more fun if you take them outside. Hopscotch is a classic outdoor game that can be easily made about math. Just one idea is this skip counting hopscotch idea from Math Geek Mama. Have the kids fill in the numbers and them count them off as they jump. She also has a fun jumping math maze that looks like a lot of fun.

Look We’re Learning has some more fun ideas for math games you can play outside including a beanbag toss, counting treasure hunt and sidewalk chalk math.

Some days it’s too hot to go outside so you might need some indoor math games to play. Math Geek Mama also has a great collection of Lego math games and activities for kids of all ages. Primary Playground has games you can play with Uno cards to learn about numbers, sort colors and more.

Older kids will enjoy the math games using dominoes from Upper Elementary Snapshots.

Take your math learning on the go with these math themed cootie catchers from 123 Homeschool 4 Me. There are lots of options here including ones just with numbers, with math problems or that ask you to double numbers. Inside numbers are presented as hash marks, fingers or dots to add an extra layer of fun.

All About Me Math Themed Sheets

Animal Measuring Math Center Activity

Christmas Math Activities for Preschoolers [Lesson Plans]

Christmas Themed Math Activities [Lesson Plans]

Several countries have a day set aside to honor and recognize their inventors, but Nov. 9 is a special one that’s known as Tag der Erfinder in German. It’s celebrated in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and it falls on Nov. 9 because that’s the birthday of Hedy Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr is widely known as an actress but there’s a lot more to her story. You can get a little of it geared to little kids in the Little People, Big Dreams book Hedy Lamarr (32 pages, hardcover, published 2023 by Frances Lincoln Childrens Books, suggested retail price $15.99).

The book explores her birth in Austria and how she spent time when she was young coming up with inventions. She became an actress, married an arms dealer, made her escape to America and became an actress again.

But she also helped develop a frequency-hopping signal device for airplanes that was used by the Americans and their allies during World War II. That technology became the basis for wireless technology such as wifi and GPS.

While Inventor’s Day is a great time to learn about Hedy Lamarr, you can take this opportunity to check out books and do little studies on lots of different inventors. If there’s an inventor or an invention your child is particularly interested in, that’s a great place to start. It’s fun to think about all the things we use every day that didn’t always exist; someone had to invent them!

For a start here at Craft Gossip you can learn more about Garrett Morgan, who invented traffic lights; Maria Oroso, who developed a clay oven that could cook food without electricity; and more female inventors and scientists.

And for more general inventors’ fun, check out this inventors word search from Fun Findery (and another from Let’s Do Puzzles) or take a quiz on inventors and their inventions from Flanders Family Home Life.

Have you read?

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