The Magical Product Swap {Plus a Giveaway!}

 

It's that time again! The amazing Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class is hosting another "Magical Product Swap" and I'm so excited to share the gem that I got to review! I was lucky enough to be paired up with Cynthia from 2nd Grade Pad.

 

If you aren't following her blog yet, you need to! She has wonderful ideas and offers such creative freebies for teachers. To check out her blog, just click on her button above. Okay, onto the fabulous product that I got to review for the swap- Cynthia's Math Games Galore.

This packet contains 11 math games that are perfect for small groups or partner work. I used these games in my "Quiet Choice Box" which is where my students can choose games to play when they finish their work early. I am always looking for new games to add to the box to keep it exciting for my students. These games were PERFECT for my students to play in partners because they were easy to make and play. The directions are simple and require only a few materials. My kiddos looked forward to these games so much that they've never worked as quickly to finish their work!

Here is a pic of the quiet choice box that I have in my class with Cythia's games inside. This box is just a hanging file box that I use to keep things organized. It works so well! Each game is in it's own folder with the title on a tab at the top. The kids can easily find the games they are looking for and know where to put them when cleaning up. (We all know that our students struggle with keeping things organized!)

Next to the box is a small bin that I use to keep the dice, cubes, coins, spinners, and other materials that go along with the games. When the kids pull out a game, they look to see what materials they need and get them out of the bin. It is so easy to just keep all of the small pieces together so they don't get lost in the box. The cubes won't fit in my hanging folders so the bin works great.


The games in Cynthia's pack cover math concepts including: counting, identifying numbers, more than/less than, addition, subtraction, counting on, counting back, mental math, making a ten, place value, and counting coins. Since there are so many fabulous games in this pack, I'm going to highlight my students' 4 favorites! First up is their ultimate favorite game- Back and Forth.

 This game encourages the students to quickly add and subtract using mental math. The kids place their counter at the beginning of the gameboard and roll the cube (pictured on the right) to see how many spaces they get to move. Sometimes they get to move forward (if they land on an addition fact) but sometimes they have to move backward (if they land on a subtraction fact). The game is won when the first player makes it to the 20. My kids played it like a race and were practicing adding and subtracting quickly. They loved it! Here is a pic of them enjoying the game:

 Next up is the game "21". This is another game that encourages mental math and counting on. The students take turns spinning a spinner (made by using a paper clip and pencil) to see how many points they get. They continue spinning and adding points by counting on until someone reaches the number 21. My kiddos also really enjoyed this game because it felt like a race (they are so competitive!) and because they loved using the spinners. They didn't even realize that they were practicing their math facts... score!

"This is How We ROLL!" sparked their interest immediately because of the catchy name =) This game reviews many concepts all at the same time including place value, addition, and comparing numbers. The kids roll two dice, add the numbers together and then record it in the thousands place. Then, they do the same thing but record it in the hundreds place. They continue doing this until their place value mat is full. At the end, they compare numbers to see who has the biggest (or smallest). They are the winner!

 

Last up is the game "Coin Toss". Students take turns grabbing a handful of coins and tossing them into a cup. They count the coins they grabbed and then compare with their partner's amount. Whoever has the highest amount gets a point. Students can record who won each round by using tally marks on a dry erase board. The first student to reach 5, 10, or whatever you chose is the winner! Instead of having my students toss them into a cup, I had them pull out a handful of coins and place them in pile in front of them. This worked just as well and kept all of the coins together!

 

Alright- now that you want to grab this amazing product, here is the exciting news.... Cynthia and I are both offering 20% off of our Math Games Galore (Cynthia's product) and  Math Games with Dice (my product that she is reviewing)! To snag your discounted copy, just click on the pictures below:

 

                                        

 

 

We are also giving away any item from our TpT stores ($10 or below) to 3 lucky winners! To enter the giveaway, just follow the directions below:

 

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