Place Value: Math is Fun: 3 Games to Teach Place Value in the Classroom
Are you ready to make teaching place value fun in 2nd grade?
I know what you are thinking. How can teaching place value to 2nd graders be fun?!
For some kids, math is anything but enjoyable.
Making math and place value fun and engaging can help your most reluctant math students jump for joy. With the right tools of the trade, it is possible to get everyone excited to better understand two-digit and three-digit numbers.
Whether 1st graders or 2nd graders are learning about the ones place, the tens place, the hundreds place, or the thousands place, there are plenty of engaging ways for kids to practice their skills in the place value of the digits.
Check out these top 3 FREE place value games designed to help students understand the place value system in a classroom setting!
Top 3 Games to Teach Place Value in the Classroom:
1. Base Ten Bingo
Base Ten Bingo is a fun online game that uses good ole fashion bingo to help students master place value. You can set your kids up on ABCya.com.
Students choose between 2-digit numbers, 3-digit numbers, or more. Then they play BINGO! You collect Bingo bugs as you play. Kids think this game is so fun!
The best part of this game is how you can differentiate. Even 1st graders can play with two-digit numbers and will learn the correct places for numbers.
Students use a traditional bingo card. The base ten blocks are shown, and students have to use these blocks to count out the number. If they have the total on their bingo sheet, they click the number that represents the model. Students quickly learn that numbers have different values based on the position of a digit.
Get ready to hear lots of shouts or whispers of -BINGO - in your classroom!
2. Base Ten Bingo
Base Ten Bingo is a fun online game that uses good ole fashion bingo to help students master place value. You can set your kids up on ABCya.com.
Students choose between 2-digit numbers, 3-digit numbers, or more. Then they play BINGO! You collect Bingo bugs as you play. Kids think this game is so fun!
The best part of this game is how you can differentiate. Even 1st graders can play with two-digit numbers and will learn the correct places for numbers.
Students use a traditional bingo card. The base ten blocks are shown, and students have to use these blocks to count out the number. If they have the total on their bingo sheet, they click the number that represents the model. Students quickly learn that numbers have different values based on the position of a digit.
Get ready to hear lots of shouts or whispers of -BINGO - in your classroom!
3. Number Beat-It
Number Beat-It is a fun math game for kids to play while listening to the song Beat It by Michael Jackson! (If you are an 80s kid, you know what I'm talking about!)
Kids take turns trying to beat the larger numbers. Strategy is at play when kids can move the cards around and try to make the bigger number.
Students can compare the place value of each digit with their partner's given number increasing place value understanding.
For example, if students are playing for the hundredths place, they will compare the face value of a digit to see who has the large number.
Children in kindergarten and 1st grade have a great deal of experience with the digit value. Most children will be familiar with recording whole numbers on paper and comprehending the positional values while also placing numbers in the correct position to the tens place.
As 2nd grade teachers, we can take it from there!
Yet, sometimes place value feels tricky for kids. This game of Number Beat-It will allow your students to practice place value in a fun and engaging manner.
Use this game as a warm-up in your math block, or place it inside a math center to use again and again. Laminate the cards and board to last longer. (Add white cubes or an orange rod or orange squares to help students understand the one-to-one relationships to numbers if needed. Math manipulatives can often help solidify a concept.)
Directions:
Shuffle the cards and place the deck number-side down on the table.
Each player uses one row of boxes on the Beat-It Mat. (Choose hundreds mat or thousands mat.) In each round, players take turns turning over the top card from the deck and placing it number-side up on any empty boxes. Each player turns 3 or 4 (depending on hundreds or thousands). Each player sets their 3-4 cards on their row of the Beat-It mat.
At the end of the round, players read their numbers aloud and compare them. Each player records the comparison on their Beat-It record sheet. The player with the more significant number for the round scores 1 point.
Play five rounds for the game. Shuffle the deck between matches. The player with the most points wins the game.
Strategy comes in when students move the cards around to make the largest target number and BEAT the other number.
If you're looking for a way to make place value more fun for your students, look no further! These three games are sure to get them engaged and excited about learning.
The best part is they can be easily implemented in any classroom.
So what are you waiting for?
Give your students the gift of learning place value with these top 3 games.