Math Games--Searching for a Good Time

As the Internet continues to play a larger role in education, a growing number of online sites host free math games, most of which are challenging, exciting, fun and age-appropriate. Math games should never take the place of homework assignments or projects, but a good game from a trustworthy site, can be an enjoyable way to break up the monotony of studying and may be very beneficial to your child's education. Keeping your child's mind primed for new material is the key to maintaining a healthy level of educational joy and motivation.

Math Search, a game that involves a series of math skills including multiplication, division, subtraction and addition is an example of an excellent game that encourages math skills, spatial reasoning skills and logic skills, while managing to stay competitive and fun. Math Search requires a student to complete a math problem (they increase in difficulty as the program progresses) and then find the answer from a Word Search-like grid of numbers. Kids work while a time counter ticks away the seconds or minutes, so they feel a slight passive pressure to complete the exercise in a certain amount of time, though no penalty is given for the more methodic mathematician. Working against a clock energizes students and keeps this math game ahead of others by allowing students to play with a sense of competition against an opponent or against their own best score.

You can introduce a new math, word or logic game to your student once every week. It will give them a fun break without diverging into complete mindlessness. This helps maintain that healthy mix of work and play which is crucial for continued learning success. Once your child finds favorites, make note. There are many online resources to offer your child more games like the ones that he or she takes to with the most excitement.