Halloween Puzzles and Math Talks

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, and I love to use all kinds of Halloween-themed math games, puzzles, and other practice activities in the classroom. Today I would like to share some more games and activities ideas with a Halloween theme to practice arrays and multiplication …

Introducing divisibility rules early on equips children with problem-solving strategies that improve computational fluency and number sense. Simplifying Calculations: Divisibility rules make it easier to determine if one number can be divided by another without doing a long division. For example, knowing a number is divisible by 2 if it’s …

At mathcurious we love math puzzles and brain teasers. Anything that tickles the brain and improves mathematical thinking. Puzzles provoke creativity and show the students how different math concepts and combinations of them can be used to solve problems in unexpected ways. Are your students smarter than a chicken? Have them …

Combining letters with numbers and mathematical operations is new and exciting for students starting with basic operations. I find that many students see these equations as puzzles and love to solve them. As the equations get more complicated, however, including fractions, exponents, and more, many students start getting frustrated. Algebra …

Multiplication facts fluency is very important as it is the base for many concepts like multi-digit multiplication, equivalent fractions, division, and, much more. Multiplication facts practice deserves time and effort. Rushing into drills that promote meaningless memorization with endless repetition will not help in the long run. Allow students to …

By transforming any math activity into a “puzzle” you can instantly engage students and make a lesson so much more exciting. I often use puzzles to initiate number talks and to challenge my students. I love the Aha! moments they have once they solve a problem/puzzle. Why do students enjoy …

A strong conceptual understanding of division will help build students’ confidence and a strong foundation to base multi-digit division and division of decimals and fractions. The first step is to make sure that students understand what is division. Ask your students to explain what is division and find out what is …

Not math-related but I have collected some silly Halloween jokes that you can share with your students as a break or as an addition to virtual Halloween activities. I turned some into slides with illustrations to add them at the end of my Halloween-themed math activities as a brain break. …

This Ghostly game aims to help students practice addition and subtraction to 20. The print version uses dice and the digital version uses a spinner. The goal of the game is to catch the other players (ghosts) by landing on the same spot. It’s a “last man standing” game. The …

Counting, recognizing numbers as quantities visually, and combining different quantities to form/model numbers are important skills that enforce number sense in grades k,1, and 2. A strong number sense is crucial for future understanding of more complex math topics. Number sense building activities Count out loud together as a class …

Arrays are a great way to introduce multiplication in grade 1, 2 and 3. Playing with arrays will help students model multiplication as repeated addition and understand the properties of multiplication. It is very important that we help students visualize and understand multiplication early on so that we build a …

This Halloween activity is for students to practice addition, subtraction, and numbers 1-100. The game board is the table 1-100 and the students move around on the board using dice in the print version and a spinner in the google slides version. There is a multiplication/division version of this game …

Playing games on the multiplication table or the 100 chart is a great way to practice multiplication and division facts and more without the stress of memorization. It helps students find patterns and relations and learn how to use known facts as stepping stones. Even though we have shared a …

Today’s resource is a fun Halloween-themed one! The students are asked to select the correct candy for the trick or treaters after solving a problem. This collection of digital activity cards allows students to practice addition and subtraction of 2-digit numbers with regrouping and without. The slides offer visual help …

Many interesting and fun activities can be done on the multiplication table for the students to discover patterns, find relations and make connections. This will help them gain fluency and automaticity with the multiplication and division facts. Filling in the missing numbers on the multiplication table is one of my …

Grades 2,3,4 Arrays are a great way to introduce multiplication in grade 2 and 3. Playing with arrays will help students model multiplication as repeated addition and understand the properties of multiplication. It is very important that we help students visualize and understand multiplication early on so that we build …