It may sound challenging and even impossible to learn to enjoy math. However, number games for kids can help your child quickly become interested in the topic!
By playing these games, children will not only master fundamental math skills but also improve their creativity and critical thinking abilities. Children who learn through hands-on activities such as games become better readers, writers, and understand numbers effectively.
Numerous fun and entertaining online number games exist that kids can start playing to strengthen their math skills while having a blast. Of course, engaging children in math activities will encourage them to have a better understanding of numbers.
Through these number-learning games, kids can understand the order of numbers and what they mean.
This article will cover the benefits of numerical games for your child and explain how online number games can polish your child’s math skills.
How Number Games Lay the Foundation for Math Proficiency
People of all ages love playing entertaining games as they capture attention with fascinating graphics and gameplay.
When these games have key numerical concepts (counting sequences, computation techniques, one-on-one correspondence) ingrained in them, they become even more handy!
Here are a few ways number-learning games encourage math proficiency:
- Playing number-learning games encourages strategic mathematical thinking as children find different strategies for solving problems and deepen their understanding of numbers.
- When played repeatedly, these games can support your child’s development of computational fluency.
- These games give your child the opportunity to practice, which is an essential part of mathematics. Scores can be monitored to judge how well your child is doing.
- Through these games, parents can assess or observe children and create a tailor-made schedule for their learning needs.
- Games allow students to be familiar with the number system and ‘benchmark numbers’ like 1000s, 100s, and 10s.
- Through numerical games, children engage in computation practice and form a strong understanding of operations (computational fluency includes efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility with strategies).
- These games promote a unique school-to-home connection. This ensures parents can enhance their child’s mathematical thinking skills by allowing them to play games.
- Number learning games encourage children to investigate various number values, patterns, and other mathematical concepts.
- Solid mathematical reasoning and knowledge can be developed through these games.
- Numerical games allow children to recognize numbers, building a solid foundation for them to add, subtract, and more.
Numbers play a vital role in the world surrounding your child. Not only are many items in the classroom labeled with numbers, but even the bus your child has to get on or the line they have to stand in is numbered.
Hence, number recognition is a skill that allows them to learn these foundational concepts as early as possible, all while having fun!
Engaging Your Child’s Learning Journey with Number Games
The good news for parents is that your child’s learning journey can be enhanced with mathematical games in a fun, lasting way!
Not only do these games teach much more than academics, but they also have the element of competition, and kids love to compete!
Winning builds confidence that can be carried over to other areas of life, and even if they lose, they will learn to try harder again next time.
Some of the ways number learning games enhance your child’s learning journey other than teaching mathematics are as follows:
- Co-operation
- Turn-Taking
- Following a Process
- Following Rules
- How to be a Humble Winner
- How to Accept Defeat and Remain Motivated
All of these are important social skills that won’t only make your kid a genius in class, but will also make them a more complete individual in other areas of life.
Two activities your child will enjoy that teach number recognition are as follows:
Make Daily Mundane Tasks Number Related
What if we told you you could sneak number recognition-related tasks into your child’s daily routine?
This makes learning meaningful and displays how numbers play a vital role in our surroundings.
To do this, you can make number games out of mundane tasks (even something as simple as using the microwave).
For example, you can ask your kid to find the numbers you want to set the microwave on. This can play a vital role in number recognition and won’t take too much time.
Get Involved in the Games
One of the best ways to teach your child math is to get involved in the numerical games they play.
Not only is this a great way to spend valuable time with your child, but it also involves valuable information that can help your child become a master at numbers.
Plus, playing with your child adds that element of competition, which can take your child’s learning to a new level.
After all, what child doesn’t love beating his parents in a game?
Using Number Games to Build Strong Numeracy Skills
Math is all about practice and some kids underperform because they simply lack practice.
Maths anxiety can sometimes take over and this scares children and stops them from even starting their numerical journey.
Children suffering from math anxiety or phobia have math scores that are 34 points lower than those who do not have math anxiety.
However, number games can take all of these problems away. They provide your child with a stress-free environment where they can engage with numbers in fun and creative ways.
Hence, the children can do the one thing they were unable to or feared to do earlier – practice!
This helps kids become math masters and develop numeracy skills from an early age.
Some of the ways numerical games build strong numeracy skills for children are:
Reinforces Mathematical Vocabulary:
Mathematics has a special vocabulary that can seem problematic for children to learn at first. However, over time, they can get the hang of it, and the key is to keep at it.
Learning through online number games provides the opportunity for children to continue their mathematical journey even when school ends.
The best part is this learning journey is a fun activity in the shape of games that your child loves!
These games contain various numerical terms and reinforce the mathematical vocabulary your child needs to succeed in class.
Promotes Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
All math number games contain stages where problem-solving and critical thinking are key elements to get to the next level.
Through these numerical games, children are encouraged to dig into the numerical problems in front of them and solve them through critical thinking.
This translates into approaching different situations of life with a logical point of view, solving them just like the math problems these games contain.
Builds Confidence and Motivation in Math
Learning math can seem like a daunting task at first, but if you take everything step by step the way these number games do, it’s not too hard.
The idea of these online games is to motivate the child with every level they successfully pass. Stunning graphics, energetic music, and fun characters at every stage encourage your child to continue playing.
Together, all of these elements build confidence and motivation regarding math for your child. Once the fear of being bad at math is gone, your child is ready to take the step towards being a math genius!
Hands-on Learning Experience For Children
Reading about something is one thing, but properly being able to see it and engage in the activities is a whole different experience.
When kids play number learning games, they are engaging directly with numbers and this provides them with a hands-on learning experience that reading and writing simply don’t offer.
Through these hands-on experiences, your child has the opportunity to personally apply various numerical concepts and see the results.
They can get it wrong a few times but with the encouragement provided by these games, they’ll continue to keep trying and learning in a way like never before.
Encourages Pattern Recognition and Sequencing
Not only do these games provide a fun experience, but they also encourage numerical pattern recognition and teach the art of sequencing.
A key element in these games is to recognize numerical patterns or sequence numbers in ascending/descending order to proceed to the next level.
This allows children to carry these recognition skills to other areas of life and helps them develop an interest in numbers like never before.
Being good with numbers is not just nice, it’s beneficial in various areas of our lives.
Whether you are a teacher or a parent, you can try the above fun activities to help strengthen the numeracy skills of children and help them reach their goals.
Using Number Games to Foster Conceptual Understanding
In today’s world, children need to be pushed to develop a mastery of mathematical knowledge to attain success in whichever part of society they want to contribute to.
This mathematical knowledge is useful to children because it enhances their problem-solving and decision-making skills and helps them construct their understanding.
To help children acquire these essential skills, learning mathematics should be made efficient, bearing in mind that it constitutes a vital part of their lives.
Some ways numerical games can help foster conceptual understanding are:
Adaptive Learning Paths
Number learning games can personalize and adapt to your child’s performance to develop a specialized learning path.
This makes sure your child learns at the pace that suits them best. Furthermore, games ensure that children can only pass levels by giving the correct answers.
So, to get to the next level they crave, children have to give it their best and make sure they get the answers right.
Interactive Visualization:
Perhaps the most favorite aspect of online number games for children is the interactive visuals allowing them to engage with numbers in an exciting way.
Through graphics and animations, children don’t only read about concepts on a piece of paper but also see them on a screen. This effect has proven to help children understand numerical concepts more clearly.
An example of this is partitioning a number into two halves. While on paper, there’s no numerical representation of this, in games, you can visually see a number getting split apart into two equal parts.
Contextual Learning:
Becoming a master of numerical concepts doesn’t have to be boring. What if these concepts could get engrained into fun games that involve saving your town, or building a new castle?
Through creative vision, various number learning games can be formed that can help children understand the real-world application of various numerical concepts.
These games provide various problems that can only be solved through prediction, strategic thinking, and estimation of the next numbers.
Immediate Feedback Loop
While classroom etiquettes involve completing your work and waiting for the teacher to check it and give you feedback, online number games operate more effectively by providing immediate feedback.
Once your child is done with his answer, they are instantly told if their answer/approach was correct or incorrect.
This allows them to adjust their mathematical strategies, and the best part is that correct answers are rewarded with badges, trophies, or points providing a motivational element to your child.
Opportunities to Collaborate
Last but not least, online numerical games have provided the opportunity for mathematics to be more than just a solo venture.
Through numerical games, children can now play against one another and various games even offer multiplayer modes adding a sense of competition that can enhance learning performance!
Furthermore, such games allow children to explore new numerical concepts with their peers, allowing collective learning.
The Bottom Line
Remember, the more fun you can make learning for your child, the easier it will be! Luckily, number games provide the best opportunity for making your child’s numerical adventure fun and exciting!
The primary goal is to get your child to fall in love with numbers. If they are feeling pressured or stressed about learning they won’t enjoy it, and learning will become more difficult.
Keep learning through fun numerical games and help your child on their way to becoming a math genius!
Farah Jassawalla is a technology enthusiast with a keen interest in AI, ML, and anything digital. Her passion for technology extends into her work as she currently manages the blog and social media for one of Canada’s most awarded tech and IT companies, in addition to consulting and writing for other brands. She’s an avid reader, writer, and researcher who is always looking out for the next big update in the digital world.
