I absolutely love playing games, so when I decided to create some resources for teachers, I knew that I would create games. It’s such an essential part of our curriculum in learning how to work together, and problem solve. It’s just overall fun!
Playing Simply STEAM games is easy to do. There are four main ways that you can play; however, there are many other ways that you could play too. Make sure you read this post to learn SEVEN more creative ways to play Simply STEAM math games.
To play any of these games, you need to understand that all my cards are self-checking and have value. This value can be for some spaces moving, adding, or some materials you need to collect, pick up, etc. Wanting to know when to play them? Check out this post here!
Let’s get to the games.
1. Board Games
The first way to play is a board game. You’ll need a game board, a deck of cards, and the game pieces for the game. I like to use these game pieces here. For the game board, you can select colored or black and white.
The object of this game is to make it to the finish line first. Player 1 will select a card and answer it. If player 1 answers correctly, the player can advance the number of spaces indicated on the card. If the player does not answer correctly, then the player cannot advance.
This makes for a great learning opportunity to discuss how they solved incorrectly and how they can solve correctly next time.
Players take turns, and the first one to make it to the finish line wins.
2. Pick Up Sticks
I loved this game as a kid, and I thought it’d be fun to bring it back to life with these math games. Since each card has a value, it is fun to use it to pick up the number of sticks (or put them back if they’re incorrect).
For instance, if a player answers correctly and the card says “2”, the player can pick up two sticks without disturbing the pile. But if the player answers the card incorrectly, then the player must forfeit two sticks to the other player.
The player with the most sticks at the end wins the game.
3. Race to 20
This is a fun game for students as they can do this independently as a fluency game. Students use a clock to time themselves to see how long it takes to get to 20. Students can also do this with a partner as well. This is when students race each other to 20.
Each player has their own game board. Players take turns answering questions. If the player answers the card correctly, then the player colors in the number of circles indicated. The first player to color in all 20 dots wins.
4. STEM to Win
STEM to Win is a game I invented, and it’s so much fun! Students earn supplies based on the value they earn. For example, if a player answers a card that says “3”, they get to select three pieces of material. Once they’ve gone through the entire deck, they will have one minute to complete a STEM challenge using only the materials they’ve earned. This game is enjoyable as the reward is creativity, and there’s no real winner.
These games are so much fun for students and for teachers! Check them out there!
If you’re looking for more ways to play, then you’re in luck! I put together 20 ways to play games with these cards! They include everything from partner games to individual games. You can get them in my TpT shop by clicking HERE or get them for FREE when you subscribe to my newsletter HERE.
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