And who said maths can’t be fun? This maths game lets kids drive and park 3 cars on 3 roads leading up to a roundabout. The roundabout has a large number in the middle.
Each car has a single digit number on it. Children have to choose the cars with the right numbers on them to line up so that they can reach the total which is inside the roundabout.
Interactive maths games, like this one which is ideal for car lovers, could motivate kids much more than writing them down with paper and pencil. [/wrap]
Summary:
Time: 10 minutes
Age: Big kids
Difficulty to make: Easy peasy
Skill: Adding 3 one-digit numbers
You will need:
- Green and brown card
- Round stickers
- Toy cars
- Scissors
- Pen
- Glue
- Counters or sticks (optional)
Step 1: Draw the road
On a piece of brown or grey card draw a circle, to make a roundabout.
Then draw lines to make three roads leading up to the roundabout.
Cut out the 3 roads and roundabout.
Step 2: Make your game board
Take a separate piece of brown card.
Glue a piece of green felt down onto it to create a green rectangle.
Then take your cut out roundabout and roads that you did in Step 1. Stick them onto the green ‘grass’.
Step 3: Number your cars
Write numbers on small round stickers and stick them onto your toy cars.
You can make stickers for each of the numbers 0-9. We recommend that you then make a few additional stickers to repeat the smaller numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Step 4: Create the roundabout number
To set up the game board place all the cars in the car park at one end.
Then cut a piece of coloured card into a circle, the right size so that it fits into the middle of the roundabout.
Write a number on this circle which is 5 or higher. Here we’ve chosen the number 9. You can go into the double digits if your child is comfortable with that.
Your roundabout game is all ready to play.
How to play the game
The aim of the game is to drive three cars up to the roundabout. Together the numbers on the three cars must add up to the number in the middle – in this case 9.
Ask your child to pick one car first and drive it up one road and stop it just before the roundabout.
Let’s say they chose the car with a number 3 on it. Now ask them to choose another car to drive up another road.
This time they chose the car with the number 4. Can they add the two numbers together? They should get 7.
They now have to work out which car to choose next to drive on the remaining road and park next to the roundabout.
Which other number do they need to reach 9 from 7?
If your child chooses the number 2 then they’ve won the game! Maybe you can agree on a special treat or prize for them when they do.
Use counters to help add 3 numbers
Counters can help children visualise the numbers that they are adding together and the number that they are adding up to.
If you don’t have counters then you could use ordinary household items like buttons, cocktail sticks, straws or even Maltesers.
Start by asking them to count out 9 counters (9 is our roundabout number). When they pick their first car (here with the number 3 on it), ask them to move the same number of counters away from their line of 9, and place them with that car.
When they pick the second car (here with the number 5), again ask them to take away the same number of counters from their line.
How many counters are left in the row of 9?
Explain that this is the number they need to find for the third car.
Pick the missing car
Another way to play is to place 2 cars on the game board and ask your child to find the missing car.
Or you could put any 3 cars on the roads and the child has to find the correct number to go in the roundabout.
Change the number in the middle of the roundabout to play the game again and again.
Have fun adding 3 numbers together with this roundabout maths game
