Flash cards and written problem solving practice are certainly time tested methods of practicing math skills that many educators, parents, and students rely on. Although these activities are helpful and necessary to the development of adequate math abilities, elementary school aged children may become bored or uninterested in this type of learning. To combat this try using a favorite game, toy, or character that connects with math!
Making Math Interesting for Kids
In the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2005 publication "A Family’s Guide: Fostering Your Child’s Success in School Mathematics" (What Families Can Do: Ideas to Help Your Child Succeed In and Enjoy Mathematics), ideas such as connecting math to the child’s everyday life and making math activities fun are suggested as important ways to involve young students in the learning process.
One way to accomplish this is to utilize basic life situations such as paying for a piece of candy at a store or counting silverware when setting the dinner table. Another option is to link interesting and important (to the child) activities or games to mathematics.
This can be as simple as a favorite number game such as Uno or a math-based board game. For children who may be very resistant to typical math learning activities, parents can think out of the box and attempt to connect a non-math leisure pastime with lessons in addition, subtraction, and more.
Pokemon, Bakugan, and Yu-Gi-Oh Toys and Games
Parents of elementary school aged children (especially those of boys) may be very familiar with the toys, games, movies, and television shows of Pokemon, Bakugan, and Yu-Gi-Oh. All three are anime programs based on fantastical worlds in which children or teens use cards and creatures with special abilities to in some way battle.
The cards (and in the case of Bakugan the creatures) posses certain point values. These numbered point values indicate a specific strength or force that can be added to or diminished based on an opponents attack.
Many children not only watch the television programs that depict these battles, but also engage in strategic card game play based on the characters of each series. This presents a great opportunity for students to link a favorite character/television series/toy with math learning.
Using Pokemon, Bakugan, or Yu-Gi-Oh as Math Education
Game play for any one of these series involves a certain amount of strategy. This includes adding and subtracting numbers to figure out how to best an opponent.
Whether it is the "G" value of a Bakugan dragonoid, "HP" points of a favorite Pokemon, or the attack and defense numbers of the Yu-Gi-Oh creature cards, kids can add and subtract their way to amazing learning potentials without even knowing it.
Sitting at an empty desk with only a piece of paper and a pencil may not entirely entice a child to spend hours on math. Alternatively, adding and subtracting the point values in a fun filled character game with a favorite friend may be more palatable.
This is not to say that flash cards and homework should be thrown out in favor of only playing games. Instead, these character based games and activities can be used to supplement and reinforce other forms of mathematics learning.
Parents can help their children to gain a better grasp of basic number operations by tying specific interests and situations to mathematics learning. This will help to make the process more fun, and hopefully increase academic outcomes.
Source:
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. A Family’s Guide: Fostering Your Child’s Success in School Mathematics, What Families Can Do: Ideas to Help Your Child Succeed In and Enjoy Mathematics, 2005 (accessed February 21, 2010) .
Erica Loop - I am a mother and a professional Arts Educator, teaching visual arts programs to children ages three and up in both museum and school ...
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