Family Math Night Fun!

Well, I have been scurrying around like a squirrel hiding nuts (and maybe going nuts) these last few days getting ready for our Family Math Night.  I usually plan this as close as I can to our 100th day of school, which happens to be this Thursday!  While getting ready for this event, I have thought about a game I recently made, which first grade really enjoyed!  This game is called Bubble Gum Pop and is centered around adding and subtracting 10’s and 1’s on the hundreds chart.  The game is already differentiated and would be wonderful as a take home game for parents to enjoy with their children!  There is very little prep to this game other than gathering some game pawns and deciding which way you want to use to make a spinner.  There is even an extra engagement factor if you decide to use real bubble gum (flat pieces) for game pawns!

Here is the fun spinner!  Kids place five pawns on the board to start with (scroll farther to see the board).  Then they move those pawns down one square if they land on +10, up one square if they land on -10, to the right one square if they land on +1, and to the left one square if they land on -1.  If students land on the wild space they can move their pawn anywhere on the board.

If students bump into one another, then they  automatically knock the other pawn out.  Also, if students land outside the perimeter of the chart, their opponent is out.  The object of the game is to knock your opponent’s game pawns off of the board.  Below you can see a sample game in action.

Here is a look at the game board.

I will be posting pictures of our Family Math Night soon if you are still needing ideas to help plan yours.