The Lifetime Learner

Creating Lifetime Learners

Fun Math Games for Elementary Students

fun math games for elementary called Grab It Games

Are you looking for fun math games for elementary students? Grab It math games are easy-to-learn math games that are fun and engaging to ALL students. Students can play these math activities in partners, independently, in small groups, or as a whole class! There are many math games included. Once you teach students how to play the game, they can play it over and over again with a variety of skills.

Check them out here:

What Is Grab It?

what is this

This is a game where students race to find the answer first. Whenever they see the correct card, they grab it! The concept of these fun math games for elementary students is very simple. Therefore, students can play independently without the teacher. Show students how to play one time and they’ll know how to play every time you pull out a new set of cards throughout the year. 

How to Play Grab It

how to play fun math games for elementary students

This game can be played a variety of ways, but let’s chat about how to play in partners or small groups first. To begin, layout all circle cards. Put all rectangle cards in a stack with students sitting right in front of the stack.
how to play fun math games for elementary students
Then, students race to grab that card’s answer that is on top first. You are looking at an example of a 3rd grade game. In this picture, you can see that both students are looking for the answer of 6.
how to play fun math games for elementary students
Students both look for the answer. The person who finds the answer first gets to keep it as a point. In this example, the student on the right found the 6 first so they get to keep the match. They place it in front of their lap and flip up a new rectangle card in the middle.
how to play fun math games for elementary students
Then, play continues until you run out of rectangle cards. The person with the most cards at the end wins. You could also set a timer for students to play for a certain amount of time. I like to use this game during math centers because students are able to play until it’s time to switch to a new center.

Alternative Ways to Play Grab It

  • Instead of each kid looking for the same card, divide the rectangle cards in half and have students race to find their match before their partner does.
  • Students work together to match all the cards.
  • Kids can play in teams instead of individually.
  • Students play twice. They time themselves to see if they can match up all cards in a quicker amount of time the second time.
  • Students both get their own matching card to look for, but a player cannot move on till their partner has found their match too.
  • Layout the circle cards all over the room. Give each child in your class a rectangle card and they need to go all around the room to find their match. When they find it, give them another rectangle card.
  • Play with the whole class. Layout the circles all over the room. Show students a rectangle card. Let students race to find the answer first.

Fun Games for Elementary Students: Examples of Each Grade

kindergarten examples

Kindergarten Grab It Games focus on a lot of the most basic skills needed for students to master. There are games including adding within 5, adding with pictures, recognizing numbers, recognizing length, counting by ones, counting by tens, counting scattered arrangements of pictures to 20, and so much more! See all of the Kindergarten Grab It Games here. 

1st grade examplesNext up is 1st grade! First grade skills get a little bit more difficult than kindergarten. Students identify 3D shapes, practice place value to 100, and find 10 more or 10 less. Also, first graders count to 120, practice adding and subtracting within 20, solve word problems, and more. These are perfect for math centers or partner work during math block. Find all 1st Grade Grab It Games here. 

2nd grade examples

Then, in second grade, students practice with place value to 1000, identifying halves, thirds, and fourths, and start practicing skip counting by 5s, 10s, and 100s. Also, 2nd graders identify even and odd numbers, tell time to the 5 minute, and more. See all of the 2nd Grade Grab It Games here. 

3rd grade examples

Moving onto 3rd grade, students start to practice more complex skills. Students practice a lot of multiplication and division concepts. Additionally, they learn about area and perimeter, fractions, and rounding. Check out all of the 3rd Grade Grab It Games here. 

4th grade examplesThe 5th Grade Grab It Math Games pack includes more games than any other grade level! First, there are many fractions and decimal Grab It Games provided for students to practice with. There are also games for multi-digit multiplication and long division as well. See all 4th Grade Grab It Games here. 

5th grade examples

Finally, in 5th grade, students focus on concepts like multi-digit multiplication, long division with remainders, and decimals. Other examples include coordinate graphing, volume, adding and subtracting mixed numbers, and powers of ten. Find all of the 5th Grade Grab It Games here. 

What’s Included?

3rd grade examples

In conclusion, every grade level comes with different skills and a different number of fun math games for elementary students. Grab It Games are easy to play, easy to differentiate and come in two different versions. Choose between a color version for vibrant printing or black and white to save on ink. There are also multiple ways to play so you can use the games over and over again. All Grab it games are aligned to common core standards and Texas TEKS. Simply print, laminate, and you can use the games for years to come!

You may also like to learn about Winter Sports Math Activities! You can read about the games here.

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