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Math games and puzzles for regular elementary kids ;)


madteaparty
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Every single math games/puzzles book I’ve purchased because I saw it recomended has been too hard ;). I’m looking for some playful math for a kid working right in grade level (in our case,second grade). It must have detailed answer key 😂

i do likeMEP math in that it weaves some of this stuff into the curriculum but even there it seems out of the blue and completely disproportionate with what’s been going on at the time... 

any playful math for kids that are just run of the mill, don’t dream love crave eat sleep math? 

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Bedtime Math books would probably fit the bill. I remember the math in them topping out around 2nd grade level. 

The I Love Math series of books by Time-Life also could fit the description, though they’re a bit harder to categorize. Each book contains puzzle math at a variety of levels, and some books tended younger than other books. The general range was K through 3rd/4th. These are out of print, but a lot of libraries have them and they’re often inexpensive on the used market.

eta: my kid does breathe math, but I’m categorías these by the level of work, not the age she did them.

Edited by Jackie
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Don't know as though I would call it *playful*, but we liked and used a lot of booklets that were designed to go along with manipulatives. All of the ones we used were on-target with the age range for which they are listed 
- Math Discoveries series -- pattern blocks (gr. 2-3); geoboards (gr. 2-3); tangrams (gr. 2-3)
Cuisenaire Rods: Alphabet Problem-Solving A-Z (gr. K-4)
- Geoboard Activity Book (gr. K-3)

The old OOP series of workbooks, Gifted and Talented, had a good variety of types of puzzles and activities:
- Math (grade 2/ages 6-8); (grade k-1/ages 4-6)
- Math Puzzles & Games: book 1; book 2

Games for Math by Peggy Kaye might have some activities that would be enjoyable -- most are geared for gr. K-2
Also, what about the videos using Cuisenaire Rods at Education Unboxed to spark exploration?
And while it has a lot of worksheets for extra drill, there were some very fun math games and activities in the Complete Book of Math (gr. 1-2).

We thought board games and card games were fun. There are a number of regular games we played that involved math in some way:
- Rack-o = number order
- Dino Tracks = place value
- Life, Monopoly, Go For Broke, etc = money and making change
- Yahtzee = adding
- Sequence Dice = adding -- I see there is now a Sequence Numbers edition for adding/subtracting
- Shut the Box = adding/subtracting
- Muggins: Knock Out = adding/subtracting/strategy -- here are all of the Muggins games

Here's an article at the Bounce Back Parenting website that lists more board games that involve math.
 

NOT a help for right now with a 2nd grader, but the Everything Kids Math Puzzles Book (gr. 4-8) looks fun. Also, the Puzzlemania books are the "best of" collections of all kinds of puzzles (including math-based) from Highlights magazine -- these are for grades 1-5, but I'd say the sweet spot is really for grades 3-4.

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2 hours ago, Farrar said:

Shut the Box
Sleeping Queens
Rat-a-Tat-Cat
Corners (from Right Start - can be bought alone)

All of those were enjoyed by my average kids at that age.

Sleeping queens or chess every single night her dad is here, she loves it....Will check the others, many thanks!

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2 hours ago, square_25 said:

We've been old Math Kangaroo questions :-). You can find them for free online. Here's an example: 

https://www.homesweetlearning.com/kangaroo/levels12/2015gr0102e.pdf

They vary in difficulty but they are cute, and free. 

We also use Beast Academy puzzles. Have you tried those? 

ETA: Ah, I don't know if these have an answer key, though :-(. 

 

She’s still in school. We had been using BA 2 as a supplement but DH hated it and he’s mathy. I won’t touch anything AOPS anymore bc I have trauma from DS.

we have been doing the IP from Singapore and that’s really more my speed. 

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