Second grade is a tricky time for math. Some kids are struggling with the concepts they met in 1st grade, and others are still trying to figure out how to make sense of the new numbers and letters.
The second-grade math games on this website make this transition significantly easier by providing a simple but engaging game that children can play with friends or on their own. Try one of these games today, and your child will be on the path to mastering 2nd-grade math!
Contents
1. Use Flashcards to Play Fifteen in a Row
Separate your flashcards into two piles. Make sure at least one of the piles is an odd number of cards. Deal each player with four cards. If you are playing against an adult, you will probably have to make one of the piles of five cards instead. The player that has the lowest card will play first, and then the next lowest card will play whenever they want (if they want). The first person that plays all their cards wins!
2. Spin the Marker for Facts Practice
Decide how many facts your student needs to practice. They need to know to win! If you practice double-digit multiplication facts, make the number of times they need to spin lower than the number of facts they have to master. Set your marker on one and have them spin. If they land on a 0, they have to answer one multiplication fact correctly. Increase the number on the marker by one, and keep going!
3. Circle Math Facts in a Number Search
These number search problems are much more difficult than they appear! To begin, children must finish the addition facts. Then they explore the puzzle for those equations. They have to find the number that makes sense in the problem. This is a great way to help kids learn how to analyze problems and make sense of numbers.
4. Hit a Home Run for Math Fact Fluency
Collect these math fact fluency cards together. Have the children read each one and then line them up. At the end of the game, have everyone circle which problem they have mastered! This is a great activity to keep children engaged as there will be more than one child who has mastered every math fact in their collection!
5. Toss Cotton Balls to Learn Evens and Odds
Have the children line up in 1,2,3 order. Give each child one cotton ball. The first child to throw their cotton ball and have it land on an even or odd card will collect them all. Then they will move on to the next person who must hit that same number again!
6. Roll and Compare for Place Value Practice
Each player rolls three dice and arranges them to obtain the highest possible total. Whoever has the highest total wins! This game is an excellent way to help children understand that a number line can be pieced together to make a larger number!
7. Toss Bean Bags to Work on Place Value
Children can practice their base ten place value facts using a beanbag toss game! Each child will have a beanbag, which represents a different number. They need to be able to find the right number on their bean bag to match the card you show them. The first person to have all their cards matched wins!
8. Go on a Place – Value Scavenger Hunt
Get all the different cards together. One card represents a ten, and another card represents a hundred. Your child should match the cards to the pictures on them. If they get three of the same number in a row, they will win some food for their lunch!
9. Jump into Skip – Counting Hopscotch
Check out this blog post if you’d like to learn more about skip-counting in 2nd grade. This is a really fun game to play during the days when rain or snow keeps the kids inside! You need a hopscotch board drawn on the ground and some skip counting cards for each child. It’s fun for everyone!
10. Solve Puzzles with Skip Counting
Children must match the numbers on their cards to the puzzle cards. Be sure to give them extra hints if they get stuck. If you’re playing this game with an adult, you will probably want to use skip counting cards instead of count-all-twos, as they can be harder for kids!
11. Stack Cups to Practice Skip Counting
For this game, players will work with a partner. They will be given a skip counting card. On the card is the number they must stack to win! Use a number line or make a chart of the numbers so that children can tell when they have made a mistake. This is fun for kids because it also allows them to experiment with heights and change of direction!
12. Flip Cards and Add to 100
This is just like the traditional game, Memory. The only difference is that you’re using math! If your child gets a match, they can take a counter off the number on the card. Whoever gets all their counters off first wins!
13. Compete at Close Call
In this game, you’re trying to get your child to guess the correct answer in a very close call! All of the cards have a number on them, and the players each have a skip counting card. They will choose which card they think is closer. If they are right, they win! If they are wrong, their turn will end. The winner is the first player to get all of their cards correctly up!
14. Subtract Your Way to Bingo
In this game, the children will use flashcards to practice subtraction facts. To begin the game, they will make a chart of all their known subtraction facts. In each square of their chart, they will place another set of flashcards with the same number. They must subtract on their flashcard to match them up with the numbers on their chart! If they get bingo and match up all seven cards at once, they win!
15. Measure and Find Objects
For this game, you will need to set out various objects for your child. Every card has a number on it and a match on the back. The children must think about the math problems! How many objects are in sight? How tall is this object? Do the cards’ amounts tell us to add up to the right amount to solve the problem? If they get all their cards right, they win! This would be an amazing game to play at home.
16. Race Cars and Measure the Distance
This game is so easy! Simply set out your cards by number and start the race! If the children land on a card with a number in each circle and reach the outermost circle, they will be able to take one object from the loose pile. The first player to fill their bucket wins! This would be a great game for an outdoor activity or an ice cream social at your local ice cream shop!
17. Host the Measurement Olympics
You will use tape measures to measure objects. The players will be able to race the clock to see who can finish their task first! First, they will need to measure the length of an object in centimetres. Then they must measure the length of an object in inches. Lastly, they must count how many objects are in a canister filled with candy. As a parent/teacher, you are responsible for placing the objects and recording the correct answer on their scorepad.
18. Hop along a Number Line to Solve Equations
The first player to solve their equation correctly will get a prize! This game is simple to set up and use. If a child lands on an even number, they will get to skip a turn. If they land on an odd number, they must take one of the numbers from the board in order to solve the equation! The first player to solve their equation wins!
19. Guess My Number to Practice Number Sense
As a parent/teacher, you need to think of a number. For example, You might say, “I am thinking of a number between twenty and thirty.” Every card has a number that might lead your child closer or farther away to the correct answer. If they guess your number correctly, they win! If you are playing this game with an adult, you can make sure there are less than two uses for various numbers (i.e., 1-9, 10-19, 20-29. As a teacher/parent, you will want to set up several sets of cards as small numbers might not be a good idea for all students.)
20. Match up Time – Telling Eggs
First, you will need to print out the number line cards. Then, you will put them on a chart of a schoolyard (in 2nd grade, they can be made out of construction paper.) Have your children line up at least two rows and start counting each row as it comes. They are trying to match the pictures to their number! If they get three in a row, they will win!
21. Practice Telling Time with Rush Hour
Each car must be moved from the starting position to the finish line! You can use a number line for this game as well. The first player to get all of their cars from start to finish wins! This is a great game for practice with simple addition facts.
22. Assemble Coin – Counting Puzzles
The players will be given a number that they must make with their coins. The first player to do so wins! You will need to print out a copy of the grid and have it ready for the students before they start playing. One fun variation is to have students make a larger number than their given number. Be sure to have them add or subtract coins to make the correct number!
23. Fill a Big Piggie with Coins
You will only need a few items to play this game! All of your coins must be of the same denomination. If you need help, you can print out the number line cards and let your children use them. You will also need some piggy banks and two buckets. This is a great game to play with younger children and involves various parts of their school year.
24. Add up Dollars and Cents with Dollar Dash
This is another game that you will only need a few items for! You will need some pennies and nickels and a basket or jar. The first player to fill it up wins! This would be a great game to play on a field trip as you can use the nickels and pennies on the road as you go.
25. Play Kaboom with Coin Sticks
This is a great game to play with older elementary-aged children! You will need a large container (a tub or something similar) and some small buckets. The children must place the coin sticks in the appropriate slots on their jars. When they push the stick down, they will hear sticks falling into a bucket! The first player to put all of their sticks in the bucket wins!
26. Go Bowling to Measure and Graph Data
You will need a small number of students for this game as you will need to divide them into two teams. You can use the large number line to keep track of which team has the most strikes in a row (or if you want, you can use a chart that the students can find with strikes). The team with the most strikes wins! This is a great game to play during your unit on data.
27. Compete at Tic – Tac – Graph
You will need to use a time-out cup for this game! You will have students draw the number line with their Tic-Tac markers. The first team to get all of their lines down wins! This is a great game for older children because it requires them to think and work together to solve the problem correctly.
28. Recognize 3-D Shapes in Mystery Bags
You will need a large number line and a basket. The first player to remove the correct shape from their bag wins! You can also include a drawing portion in this game. Students will use Tic-Tac markers or crayons to draw on a card with shapes on it. If they are correct, they will then be able to take one object from the loose pile.
29. Partition Play – Doh Shapes
You will need a small amount of Play-Doh and many lines. The first player to get all of their pieces on the line wins! You can also include an art section in this game. Students will use Tic-Tac markers or crayons to draw on a card with shapes on it. If they are correct, they will then be able to take one object from the loose pile.
30. Spin and Build Cookie Fractions
This is a fun game for students that enjoy cooking! You will need to make cookies, some fraction strips, and balls. The first player to get all of their shapes on the fractions wins! You can include a math section in this game for a bonus. Students will use Tic-Tac markers or crayons to draw on a card with shapes on it. If they are correct, they will then be able to take one object from the loose pile.