Fun Math Games for Kids at Age 6

Math Concepts for 6-Year-Olds

In first grade, your 6-year-old will be learning strategies for adding and subtracting within 20. To be successful, it will also be important for her to understand place value and how to correctly group items into tens and ones. Other skills your child will develop at the first grade level are measuring the length of items and composing geometric shapes. Reinforce these concepts at home using fun review games.

Even or Odd?

Before beginning this game, remove all the face cards from a deck of cards. Turn the cards face down on the table. Players will take turns flipping over two cards. If the sum of the two cards is even, the player will keep both cards.

If the sum of the two cards is odd, the cards will be returned to play. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins! For more advanced players, try turning over three cards for each round of play.

Show Me This!

For this activity, use paper clips to have your child practice grouping tens and ones. Use large paper clips to represent tens, and smaller paper clips to represent ones. For example, if you ask your child to group the number 24, he would use two large paper clips (representing the 20) and four small paper clips (representing the four). As an extension to this activity, have your child model number sentences using paper clips.

Measure It

Before beginning this activity, ask your child to predict the length of certain areas of your house. After making predictions, have your child measure the areas using a ruler or a yardstick. For instance, have your child predict the length of her bedroom and then measure the bedroom using a ruler.

Keep in mind that your child may not understand that a ruler is one foot in length; she may only be able to tell you the number of rulers it takes to get from one side of the room to the other. It is also important that you help your child count the number of times she 'flips' the ruler when measuring.

Piece It Together

To prepare for this activity, cut out different shapes in a variety of sizes from construction paper. Have your child explore making different shapes or symbols using the pieces of construction paper. For example, your child could make a square by piecing together two triangles. Or you could challenge your child to create an object, such as an arrow, using his choice of shapes.