Let Me Learn Multiplication Games - Explosive Fun!
Posted on September 13, 2008
Explosive fun with these multiplication games!
These card games are suitable for children who having been learning tables for a while but just either keep forgetting them or can\'t recall them quickly enough. The cards can be used with children who are just starting to learn but you will need to start with only a few cards, not the whole pack. There are two games to play; The Grabbing Machine and Jumping Tables. There are also some variations of the game for variety and flexibility. You will need the Wizard Math times table cards.
The Grabbing Machine; A simple yet effective game that encourages children to:\r- Say their tables faster.
- Be accurate with answers.
- Have lots of fun with tables! \r
- Know their tables by working them out. I.e. children can count up in 2s to get the answer for 8x2.
- Know the answers but can\'t or do not understand that they must learn to recall the answers quickly.
- Know half or more of a table and need lots of repetition practice to learn the remainder of the table. \r
- Visualise numbers (in their head).
- Remember tables that they have previously found impossible to remember.
- Have lots of fun with tables! \r
- Can know their tables one day but have forgotten them the next.
- Know most of a table but always get stuck on a few. \r
How to play 1 player. Sort the cards in to 2 piles. Pile 1: Answer cards, pile 2: Question cards. Give the answer cards to the child and tell him/her that they have 10 seconds to lay the cards out on the table. Children can lay the cards in any order they want. Now that the child has the answer cards in front of him you can put 1 question card down so that the child can see and reach it to put the answer card next to it. Raise your arm above the question card and shape you hand like a crane that is about to grab something. Whilst the child is looking for the answer card, slowly lower your arm down towards the question card whilst moving your hand in a grabbing movement. Voice sound effects like a red alert alarm sound that increases with speed as your hand gets nearer the question card are optional here depending on how motivated the child is. Some children will find this too exciting and won\'t be able to find the answer card because they are laughing too much! If the child is laughing too much you may need to forget the sound effects until they have got over the initial excitement. If the child finds the answer card then they get a point. If your grabber reaches the question card then you get a point. If you get the point you can take the card off the pile and keep it in another pile until the end of the game, the child can have a go at winning the points back. If your child answers incorrectly, don\'t forget to take the answer card off their answer pile or they won\'t have the answer card when it is needed. The last question card in your pile will be easy for your child to answer so instead ask the child what card they think you have in your hand for an extra 2 points! You can use counters as points or anything else that is suitable. Why not use a set of rubbery spiders - children will love them!
\rHow to play - Many players For a group of children, the method of play is similar. You can share the cards out among the group and the child who gets rid of all their cards first is the winner. Alternatively you can place all the cards around the table so all the children can reach them.
Variations:
Beginners\r- Use three or four cards ask the child to match the answers with the cards. Once the cards are matched with the answers say the questions and ask for the answer (which they can see). Once they are saying the answers quickly you can turn one of the answer cards over so they can\'t see the answer. Ask the questions again then turn another answer card over and so on until all the answer cards are turned over. Now you can play the grabbing game. \r
- Give the children the question cards so they have to find the questions to the answers. \r
- Fan the answer cards in your hand and ask a child to take 1 card. The child then has to ask you the question to go with that card and you can answer either with the correct or incorrect answer \r
- It is not necessary to learn times tables in sequence, in fact it is better to learn them randomly because tables are used randomly in any context. For instance, how many ways can you multiply two numbers to equal 24? If tables have been learned rote fashion you would have to go through all tables to find which multiples make 24. Where as, learning randomly means that you can start with 24 and quickly recall the multiples 2x12 6x4 and 3x8, which is useful for learning fractions.
- Some children need to see the questions to recall the answers quickly, some need to hear the questions and some need to touch the cards to recall the answers quickly, use what ever works for them.
- Some children also need to write the answers on paper to learn them.
- If you think your child has learned the answers too quickly and they will forget them in an hour or two, distract them. Distract them for a minute at first by talking about something else, and then ask the questions again. Now distract them for two minutes and try again. You can distract them for longer periods by doing another activity then going back to the questions. \r
- Sort the cards in to 2 piles. Pile 1: answer cards, pile 2: question cards
- Select 3 or 4 question and answer cards that the child is having particularly difficulty with. If the child is only having trouble with 2 questions then select 1 or 2 more questions that they know.
- Lay the answer cards out on the floor around the child like the 4 points of a compass with your child standing in the middle of the cards.
- Ensure that the cards are spaced so that the child can jump from each card in one jump. \r
- Call out one of the question cards that you have in your hand (you should have the 4 question cards that you chose earlier).
- Ask the child to jump to the answer and say/shout the answer out loud. Go through all the questions in your hand correcting the child if any mistakes are made. Change the order in which you call the questions out frequently otherwise your child may realise the pattern they are jumping in and could just be learning a pattern. \r
- When the child can jump to all the answers correctly in any order ask your child to choose a card to turn over so the number is hidden from view. Repeat the process of jumping to cards and shouting out the answers.
- Now ask your child to choose another card to turn over and repeat the process of jumping to cards and shouting out the answers.
- Next ask your child to turn one of the cards that is face down back over so they can see the number again and choose another card to turn over and repeat the process of jumping to cards and shouting out the answers.
- Now ask your child to choose another card to turn over and repeat the process of jumping to cards and shouting out the answers. 3 cards should be face down at this point.
- Finally turn the last card over so that all the cards are hidden and repeat the process of jumping to cards and shouting out the answers. \r
- By now your child should know where all the cards are even though they are face down. Your child has a visual representation of the cards on the floor, but he/she needs to have the visual representation in their heads.
- Ask the questions again (changing the order of questions all the time) but this time ask the child to point and shout out the numbers instead of jumping. They should find this very easy. If they don\'t find this easy, go back to jumping for a few questions and try again. \r
- Ask the questions again but this time no jumping and no pointing. Some children will be able to do this but others will not. It may even seem like they have forgotten everything they have learnt. Give them the following instruction: \"Pretend to point to the numbers in your head.\"
- You will find that everything comes back to them and they can remember all the answers.
- Distract your child by talking about something else for about 1 minute, and then ask the questions again. Ask you child to move outside the cards and ask the questions again. Distract the child again for about 2 minutes then ask the questions again. Gradually make the distraction time longer by putting the cards away, doing another activity or sitting down then asking the questions again. If they forget at any point ask them to think back to the cards that were on the floor. \r
Variation - Jump to the questions: This game can be played in reverse by putting the questions on the floor and calling out the answers. If you are playing with 2 different sets of cards sometimes you will have 2 children jumping. This is a good game for highlighting multiplication facts. For instance 12x2=24, 6x4=24, 3x8=24.
Did your children enjoy these games? I\'d love to hear from you. You can leave comments on my blog spot or visit: School Teaching Resources
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