Math Games for Junior High Students: Fun Games to Play at Home

What Will My Junior High Student Be Learning?

At the sixth grade level, children learn to fluently add, subtract, multiply and divide multi-digit numbers. These whole numbers may or may not contain decimals. Sixth graders also determine the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of a set of whole numbers.

In seventh grade, students solve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems involving rational numbers, which includes negative numbers. Finally, eigth graders are introduced to irrational numbers, such as pi.

Find the GCF and LCM

Before beginning this activity, write a variety of numbers on small pieces of paper and place them in a bowl. To provide ample practice, include both 1-digit and 2-digit numbers. Have your child select two pieces of paper from the bowl and calculate the greatest common factor (GCF) of the two numbers. Then, have your child determine the least common multiple (LCM) of the same two numbers.

For example, if the selected numbers were three and 40, then the GCF would be one because that's the only factor that the two integers have in common. The LCM is 120, which can be calculated by multiplying 40 x 3 = 120. Continue drawing numbers from the bowl and calculating the GCF and LCM until your child feels comfortable with these skills. If your child is more advanced, feel free to have him or her draw three numbers out of the bowl at a time.

Red and Black Addition

For this addition activity, you will only need a deck of cards (remove the face cards before playing). Divide the deck in half and give each player a stack of cards. Red cards will represent negative numbers and black cards will represent positive numbers. For each round, players will turn over the top two cards from their stack and add them together.

For example, if a player turns over a black seven card and a red four card then he or she would add: 7 + (-4) = 3. At the end of each round, the player with the largest sum will take possession of all the cards played. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins!