Stealth Teaching: Board Games Make PERFECT Math Games For Kids

Board games are the perfect math games for kids. They are fun to play, usually simple to learn, yet demanding. Your kids will learn while they have fun, if you know which games to choose and how to present them to your children.

With the assistance of a professional math tutor, John McArthur, BoardgameBeast.com will show you which games to choose and how to introduce math games for kids ‘under the radar’ using board games.

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Our expert John says: “Preschool children have most difficulty with mental arithmetic. Once they get to class, this deficiency quickly becomes obvious when the same kids lack confidence and refuse to volunteer answers to quiz questions. This lack of confidence can affect their math performance for years.”

John recommends Snakes and Ladders (Chutes and Ladders in the US and Canada) as a really simple way to get your kids adding and subtracting.

“It’s almost all addition and all with the numbers one through six,” John adds. “For complete newcomers to math, they will be able to count just the numbers on the die and then count off the squares as they move their token. More advanced kids will be able to add the number on the die to the number on the board.”

One aspect of Chutes and Ladders is the chutes (or snakes) the player must slide down and the ladders they climb up. “Some of the numbers get very big when the chutes or ladders are involved,” says John. “At first, I recommend only discussing the big jump in the number each time it happens, rather than overwhelming the child. Once they get more accustomed to playing math games for kids on a regular basis, your children will be able to tackle these bigger numbers. It will add another dimension to the board game, for them and you.”

Parcheesi board game

Another game which appeals from a math viewpoint is Parcheesi (known as Ludo outside of North America), which is a dice-based game of moving tokens.

If your kids struggle with the larger numbers near the end of Chutes and Ladders, try the Littlest Pet Shop game.

Again, it uses numbers one through six, but there’s no escalation of higher numbers on the board. And the character tokens are extremely cute!

Recommended ages: 3-6 years. Any of these games can be played up to and including your child’s Kindergarten grade (in North America), or primary years 1-2 elsewhere. Older children will quickly tire of such simple concepts.

There are many other board games which can be adapted into math teaching games for kids. Just use your imagination.