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Fractions Can Be Fun: Games to Teach How We Break Things Up

Kids may not love math, but they do love to play games.  Teachers are a bit ahead of the curve and understand if they can make learning fun, then kids can learn just about anything, including fractions.  Depending on a child’s natural abilities and age, learning fractions can be challenging.  Rather than make them frustrated, make sure kids are having fun when learning fractions.

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Fraction War

Kids learn to evaluate fractions by determining whether they are greater, lesser, or equal to one another.  Similar to the game War, players throw out fractions and the child with the larger fraction keeps both cards.  Of course, kids will need to understand fractions in order to determine the winner of each round!

Flip It

This game uses a traditional deck of cards.  Each player is provided with a game sheet with four squares and draws one card at a time.  After each draw, the card is placed in one of the four spots on the sheet of paper.  The players then multiply the fractions and continue to simplify them if possible.  The teacher checks for correct answers and helps students better understand the process of working with fractions.

Fraction Pictionary

What’s more mathematical than playing traditional Pictionary?  It’s playing with fractions!  Allow kids to draw and have their team guess the image and fraction.  For example, the hint may relate to ⅖ ducks, so a player would draw a portion of a duck or draw two ducks and three mice (⅖ of the pictures would be of ducks).

Fraction Concentration

Print a sheet of 24 fractions and have kids cut out each card.  Turn the cards down and situate them in a square, like playing a traditional game of Concentration.  Each player turns over two cards.  If the cards do not match, they must turn them back over and the next player tries.  To add instruction, ask the students which of the incongruent cards is the larger fraction.

Sudden Dozen

The Sudden Dozen card deck makes it possible for kids to learn fractions in a variety of ways.  Even better, kids can play a multiplayer game like Go Fish or alone using the fractions to play a unique version of Solitaire.  Traditional card games are familiar to kids.  It’s easy to understand the rules so kids can focus on understanding the fractions.

Slap Fraction

Slap fraction is for two players.  Shuffle the deck of 50 cards and turn the deck upside down.  Students flip the top card over and attempt to reduce the fraction.  The first player to verbally reduce the number takes the card.  If the fraction cannot be reduced, the first player to make such an assessment takes the card.  When the deck is finished, the player with the most cards wins.

Largest Fraction

This game uses a traditional card deck.  Players are dealt four cards each.  The students then attempt to form the largest fraction with the cards given.  Each player throws down and then evaluates who has the largest fraction.

Rachael Hancock is a Mom who often accidentally spends more time than she should playing games online. However, when it comes to her kids she gets them playing educational games which make boring things fun.

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