Long before the written word, significant cultural ideas passed from generation to generation through storytelling. It is an artform meant to be shared among community members. Whether you’re looking for ways to celebrate Math Storytelling Day on September 25, or simply want to bring math to life for your students, here are four great ways to incorporate the craft of storytelling into your math teaching.

Read

There are many entertaining and educational math-related stories. Read one of these math-themed books with your students:

Books for Young Children

• Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson, and Lois Ehlert
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
• Math-terpieces by Greg Paprocki
• The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang and Harry Briggs
• Sir Cumference series by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan
• The Icky Bug Counting Book by Jerry Pallotta and Ralph Masiello
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Books for Tweens and Teens

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
• Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
• A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
• Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra by Wendy Lichtman

Write

Although storytelling began as an oral tradition, today we convey stories through writing. Writing requires students to formulate, organize, and clearly communicate ideas. These are all skills successful math students must also master. Challenge your students to combine their creative writing skills and math knowledge into a poem, fictional piece, song, or even an informational article that tells a math-themed story. Provide writing prompts, like the ones below, to help get ideas flowing:

• Who is/was the most influential mathematician and why?
• Once upon a time, there were five…
• Imagine that circles didn’t exist. Write about how the world would be different.
• You created a new shape! Draw a picture of your shape. Then, write a news article telling the world about your new shape.
• Write and perform a song or rap about a mathematical concept you are studying.

Illustrate

Just as pictures can enhance a story, math illustrations can help students visualize abstract math problems. Whether students are drawing basic shapes, sketching permutations, or working on geometric proofs, the ability to illustrate a mathematical concept is a must for all students. Here are some ways to help students combine their drawing and storytelling talents while reinforcing math skills:

• Graphic novels and comic books are hugely popular with students. Ask students to create a comic strip that tells a story about how to solve a given math problem. Humor should be encouraged!
• M.C. Escher’s artwork is fascinating and inherently mathematical. Have students study Escher’s artwork and see if they can identify any mathematical themes. Then, challenge them to create their own tessellations or other mathematically inspired masterpieces.
• Early elementary students need to be able to draw and recognize shapes. Begin by instructing students to draw circles, squares, triangles, or other shapes. Then, have them incorporate the shapes into a drawing that tells a story. Students can create superhero shapes, new worlds, or anything else they can imagine.
• Challenge students to create crazy pictures as aids for remembering math vocabulary or algorithms. For example, the classic alligator drawing that represents the greater than symbol.  Memory devices that convey silly stories are easier to recall, so encourage students to think outside the box!

Watch

Movies are a modern form of storytelling. Listed below are some math-inspired movies. If showing movies in school, make sure to get any required permissions before screening.

Students can use this movie analysis worksheet to analyze the movie and its themes. Or, consider having your students write, film, and show their own short math films using a movie-making app.

Some great math-related movies include:

• Stand and Deliver (PG)
• Hidden Figures (PG)
• October Sky (PG)
• Moneyball (PG-13)
• The Martian (PG-13)
• A Beautiful Mind (PG-13)
• Sneakers (PG-13)
• The Theory of Everything (PG-13)

Remember that stories are meant to be shared! No matter how you incorporate storytelling into your math teaching, be sure that students are actively engaging and sharing their math stories with others.

This post was written by Lori Leclair, a freelance educational content developer. Using her classroom teaching experience coupled with her obsessive attention to detail, Lori crafts quality math and science materials for HelpTeaching.com. When not devising and assessing test questions, Lori can be found reading, camping with her family, or playing clawhammer banjo.

Are you looking for math games designed to spark kids’ interests? If they’re sports fans, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve rounded up the most extreme math games for kids who love sports. Whether they’re fans of football, baseball, basketball, or prefer to stick with the rousing sport of mini golf, there’s likely a game for them on our list. So batter up and prepare to take the field with these sports-themed free math games!

Basketball Games

One-Step Equations Basketball Game has kids solve one-step equations for the chance to catch the ball and shoot a free throw. This game is ideal for kids in middle school. Kids can also play the game with a classmate or friend and see whether the red team or the blue team comes out on top.

In sixth grade, most students have an understanding of basic mathematical concepts and begin learning about more advanced concepts, such as solving equations with variables, understanding ratios and proportions, and working with negative numbers. Students may also encounter problems that combine addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, rather than focusing on a single operation. To help students master these new concepts and skills, we’ve gathered some of the top math games for sixth grade. Students can play these games in class or at home to help them become more confident in their math skills.

Basic Math Skills

Number Balls encourages kids to think about numbers in relation to one another. Kids must click on the balls containing the numbers in order from least to greatest. For more of a challenge, kids can try Number Balls Equations.

Broken Calculator helps kids brush up their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills. The calculator is broken and only a few numbers and operations appear. Kids must make a series of numbers before time runs out using only the keys that appear on the screen. For example, can you make 50 with only the 2, 3, +, x, and = keys?

Algebraic Reasoning takes kids’ math skills a step further by having them use their math, logic, and reasoning skills to solve problems. For example, kids may see two sets of drums and use their logic skills to determine the value of one drum. The game offers three levels of play that gradually increase in difficulty.

Equations and Expressions

Quick Calculate begins to test kids’ knowledge of the order of operations by having them solve simple equations. The problems start out easy (5-1=?) and gradually increase in difficulty (2x(0+2)=?).

One-Step Equation Basketball Game gives kids the chance to solve one-step equations (for example, y + 9 = 11) for the chance to catch a basketball and shoot a free throw. The more problems kids solve correctly, the more points they can earn.

Expressions Millionaire helps kids learn how to read expressions. For example, kids may have to identify which expression means “the sum of a number and five.” This game offers a great way to help kids understand the language of math.

Swimming Otters Variable Expressions has kids race an otter through the water while answering expressions with missing variables. For example, X times 2 = 3. This game is a great way to begin to introduce kids to the concept of solving for variables in equations.

Fractions, Ratios, and Proportions

Tug Team Dirt Bike Fractions is a multi-player game where kids race to compare fractions by selecting the correct symbol (greater than, less than, or equal). Correct answers help kids pull the rope to their side of the screen. Incorrect answers give move the rope to the other side. The first team to pull the other side over the line wins.

Dirt Bike Proportions is a multi-player game for kids from Arcademic Skill Builders. In this game, kids race against one another to correctly solve problems involving proportions. The player who solves the most problems correctly in the fastest amount of time wins the game.

Ratio Blaster helps kids improve their understanding of ratios. Is ⅓ the same as 3 to 9 or 4 to 8 the same as ½? Kids must blast the spaceships containing the correct ratios to advance in this game.

Ratio Stadium has kids race against one another to compare ratios. The faster they answer questions and the more questions they answer correctly, the better they’ll place. This is a fun multi-player game.

Decimals, Exponents, and Integers

Otter Rush Exponents uses a multi-player format to help kids practice using exponents. Each problem features a missing variable, either the exponent or number. Kids must quickly select the correct number from the list of choices to move ahead in the game.

Hungry Puppies Decimals is a multi-player game that has kids race to mix a given number using decimals. For example, they may have to make the number 6 by select 5.1 and 0.9. The faster kids make the number, the further ahead they get in the game. The player who makes the most numbers correctly in the fastest amount of time wins.

Integer Warp puts kids’ knowledge of multiplying positive and negative numbers to the test in a fun multi-player game. Kids are shown a multiplication problem and must choose the correct answer. The problems contain a mix of positive and negative numbers. Can kids remember that a negative times a negative equals a positive or that a negative times a positive equals a negative?

And there you have it! We hope your 6th graders enjoy these games designed to help them sharpen their math skills. For more free math games, videos, and worksheets, check out the sixth grade math resources on Math Game Time.

We bet you’ve spent hours guiding Pac Man around the screen on your computer or at your local arcade, but have you ever considered using Pac Man to help teach math? The classic arcade game actually lends itself well to concepts related to graphing, geometry, coding, strategic thinking, and even basic math skills.

Play Math Man

One of the easiest ways to use Pac Man to teach math is to have students play a few levels of Math Pac Man. This version of the popular game contains the same style of game board and the iconic ghosts. However, in this version, each ghost is assigned a number. Players are shown an equation and must get Pac Man to eat the ghost that contains the solution to the equation. If Pac Man eats the wrong ghost, students can say goodbye to one of their lives.

Make a Pac Man Maze

World’s Biggest Pac Man offers students the unique opportunity to create their own mazes. As students add walls, empty spaces, and power pellets, they must think about the concepts of geometry. They must also use strategic thinking to understand what elements will make the maze difficult while still allowing players to experience victory at the end. Prefer to work offline? Students can sketch out their own Pac Man mazes on graph paper, just like the creator of Pac Man did. You can challenge students to build words or images into the maze as well, such as when Google created a version of Pac Man around its name.

Create Pac Man Inequalities

If you look at the shape of a Pac Man character, you can see how it fits nicely into a lesson about inequalities. Have students use the shape of a Pac Man character to represent the greater than and less than signs in an inequality. Students can draw the character or you can cut out Pac Man shapes from construction paper and have students place it in the equation. For more advanced students, try incorporating the inequalities into a graph.

Study How Pac Man Moves

If you look at a Pac Man board, it is full of straight lines and right angles. Have students show the different ways Pac Man can moved based on the angles. For example, what does Pac Man looked like turned 90 degrees? 180 degrees? For more advanced students, you can talk about rotations, translations, and reflections. To bring in more geometry, cut out different Pac Man shapes and have students try to determine what the circumference of Pac Man would be if his mouth was closed or find the radius of the circular sector.

Of course, you can always just let students play a simple game of Pac Man too. As they play the game, they’ll develop strategic thinking skills and look for ways to beat each level as quickly as possible.

Do you use Pac Man as a teaching tool? If so, we’d love to hear how you use it. Share your ideas on Facebook or in the comments.

When choosing the games to add to our list, we first looked at academic content and quality. All of the games on the list are high-quality games that are designed to help kids learn. Of course, kids also want to have fun, so we narrowed down our list to include the games that also came with a high entertainment factor. The result: twenty truly awesome games designed to help fourth graders learn math.

1. Broken Calculator
Once kids have basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication skills down, they need to learn how to use those skills in a more advanced way. This game challenges kids to discover alternate ways to solve a problem. For example, can you make the number 20 by using only the 2, 3, +, x, and = keys on a calculator? 

2. Bridges
This is another game that takes basic addition skills to the next level. Kids must connect the islands by building bridges. Each island has a number on it to represent the number of bridges that should be connected to it. The task may sound easy, but it’s actually pretty tricky.

3. Make 15
Making the number 15 through addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division may not seem like a difficult task, but imagine that you only have three numbers with which to do it. That’s the premise of this game which puts kids’ basic math skills to the test.

4. Catch the Stars: Multiples
In this fun arcade-style game, stars fall from the sky. If the star is a multiple of the number on the bucket, kids must try to catch it. Catch the wrong number and lose a life.

5. Math Lines: X Factor
Test your knowledge of multiples with this addicting, arcade-style game. In this game, balls travel around a track. The goal is to keep the balls from traveling into the hole. To stop them, you must shoot balls to make the given number. Kids can focus on multiples from 12-72.

6. Batter’s Up Baseball
Three strikes and you’re out in this fun baseball game that helps kids practice their multiplication skills. The goal is to beat the visiting team’s score. Kids do that  by solving multiplication problems of varying difficulty levels. Solve an easy problem? Get a single. Solve a hard problem? Get a home run.

7. Number Eaters
This game is similar to the popular Number Munchers game that kids used to play in school. You can choose to play with addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problems, as well as fractions. As you play, try to only eat the numbers that apply to instructions given.

8. Division Derby
Head to the races and have kids use their division skills during a multiplayer horse race. Solve the division problems quickly and accurately to win the race.

9. Drag Race Division
Another game to help practice division skills, Drag Race Division allows kids to complete against one another in a race to the finish line. The goal is to solve division problems as quickly as possible. However, accuracy counts too. Answer a problem incorrectly and you may find yourself at the bottom of the heat.

10. Demolition Division
What’s more fun that getting to demolish things while solving division problems?! In this game, kids solve division problems to help them blow up tanks. The game allows kids to set the range of problems they encounter, making it easy to customize the problems for beginners or mode advanced learners.

11. Heroic Ants
Can you use your knowledge of angles and trajectory to get your ants to new lands? This game, which feels slightly similar to Angry Birds, has kids launch ants to see how far they can go. It’s a great game to help them begin to understand angles.

12. Project TRIG
In this game, kids use their knowledge of geometry and angles for a greater good. The goal of the game is to launch supplies into a village that is currently under siege. Miscalculate the angle and the villagers won’t get their much-needed supplies.

13. Number Balls
In this game, kids are challenged to put the balls in order from smallest to largest. However, some of the balls contain negative numbers, so it’s not as easy as it may seem.

14. Orbit Integers
The inclusion of integers takes addition problems to another level. In this game, kids race against other players to solve addition problems (which include positive and negative numbers) quickly and accurately.

15. Speedway Adding Fractions
Another way to take addition problems to another level is by incorporating fractions. This game tests kids’ knowledge of fractions by having them race to add and subtract them.

16. Freddy’s Fractions
In this game, kids are tasked with swimming through the water to collect fractions. At the beginning of each round, kids are given some guidelines, such as “Collect fractions that are greater than 2/6.”

17. Fraction Splat
How well do you know your fractions? Test your knowledge of mixed numbers, fractions greater than or equal to one, and fractions less than 1/2 in this fun game.

18. Fraction Monkeys
In this game, kids must drag the monkeys to the correct spot on the number line. Each monkey is holding a fraction. How many monkeys can you correctly place on the line?

19. Decention
Use your knowledge of fractions, decimals, and percents to build teams of aliens. In this game, kids must match like numbers to build teams of three. Numbers come in multiple forms.

20. The Great Canoe Penguin Race
What do canoes, penguins, and multiplication have in common? They’re all part of The Great Canoe Penguin Race. In this game, kids practice multiplying two-digit numbers as they try to win the race.

If you like these fourth grade math games, be sure to browse Math Game Time to find more free math games, as well as free worksheets and videos to help build math skills in grades K-7.

1. Math Workout
For a very basic math practice game, try Math Workout. In this game, kids can test their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills together or in isolation. To play the game, kids simply try to answer as many multiplication problems as possible in the given time period.

2. Skater Math
If kids like skateboarding, they’ll enjoy Skater Math. In this game, kids must answer multiplication problems to help the skateboarder get across obstacles. Answer a problem incorrectly or take too long and he’ll fall off his board, ending the game. Answer problems correctly and kids will get to see lots of fun effects, such as a flaming skateboarder.

3. Feed Fribbit Multiplication
Fribbit the Frog is hungry. To feed him, kids must collect flies that feature the numbers needed to solve the multiplication problems. Choose an incorrect number and Fribbit will share the correct answer with them. The game has two levels: easy and pro. It’s also a featured third grade game on Math Chimp.

4. Grand Prix Multiplication
Grand Prix Multiplication is one of Math Game Time’s featured math games for kids because it’s a lot of fun and it gives kids a chance to practice their multiplication skills. In this multi-player game, kids get to drive a race car. To get their car to the finish line they must answer a series of multiplication problems quickly and accurately. At the end of the game kids can see their rate and accuracy.

5. Meteor Multiplication
Oh no! Meteors are heading towards the spacecraft! Kids must use their multiplication skills to keep the meteors from crashing into it. Each meteor displays a multiplication problem and the spacecraft displays a product. Shoot the product at the correct meteor to destroy it.

6. Multiplication Game
Multiplication Game from Hooda Math allows kids to play against the computer or against another player. This game, which is one of Math Chimp’s featured third game math games, can seem a little tricky at first. Each player moves the arrows along the bottom to create a multiplication problem. The product is then highlighted on the board. The goal is to have the most squares highlighted at the end of the game.

7. Tug Team Tractor Multiplication
What do you get when you combine multiplication skills, tug of war, and tractors? Tug Team Tractor Multiplication. In this multi-player game, teams work together to pull the other team of tractors over the line. It’s their multiplication skills that give them strength. The faster and more accurately they answer questions, the more likely they are to experience success.

8. Space Race Multiplication
Another multi-player game, Space Race Multiplication, pits kids against one another as they race to be the first spaceship to cross the finish line. If kids answer a problem incorrectly, they lose a bit of speed, but they’re also shown the correct answer to help them improve their skills as they play.

9. Pumpkin Multiples
Pumpkin Multiples may have a spooky theme, but it’s great for helping boost third grade multiplication skills year round. Kids select a target number and then must catch multiples of that number as they fall. It’s the perfect game to help kids practice more specific multiplication skills. It’s also a featured third game math game on Math Chimp.

What are some of your favorite third game multiplication games? Share them in the comments!

While just the thought of doing math is enough to strike fear into the hearts of some children, it never hurts to add some ghosts and goblins to spice it up! This Halloween, to help spookify your kids’ math practice, we are sharing some of the most spooktacular math games we could find online.

Ghost Blasters III has kids blast away ghosts while answering two-digit plus two-digit addition problems. Two players can go head to head to see who can take out the most ghosts.

King of Math enlists kids’ help with defeating the hordes of zombies that are rapidly descending on the castle. The game covers math skills from Pre-K through 8^th grade, so kids at all levels can conquer the zombies that head their way.

MathMan: Multiple and Divide has kids solve multiplication and division problems as they guide MathMan around the screen and encourage him to take out the ghosts. Don’t think it sounds scary? Wait until you’re surrounded by ghosts and have mere seconds to figure out which one to eat before they eat you.

Pumpkin Multiples features pumpkins falling from the sky. Kids must collect only the pumpkins that are multiples of a given number or they’ll find themselves earning an eerie low score.

Teddies and Monsters may not sound very scary. After all, what’s spooky about teddy bears? However, kids will find plenty to spook them as they try to save the teddy bears by knocking the monsters into the hot lava.

Escape from Fraction Manor features the creepy background music, spooky ghosts, and other quintessential aspects of a spooky Halloween game. Kids must avoid the monsters and collect all of the cards to reveal fraction puzzles.

Skeleton Launcher 2 is full of skeletons that kids must launch from a cannon to crack the egg. The game helps teach kids about angles, geometry, and basic physics concepts.

Spider Match Integers may look like it’s full of cute, smiling spiders, but the intensity of the game as kids try to match up positive and negative numbers to make a given number will be enough to frighten kids a little this Halloween.

Full Moon has kids explore the nighttime scenery to find food for the hungry rabbit. They’ll explore the shadows created by the light of the full moon and discover the surprises that hide behind them.

Monsterjong takes the classic game MahJong and adds a bit of spookiness. Kids must match tiles with similar attributes to clear the board. Unlike traditional MahJong tiles, these tiles feature creepy crawlies and other scary Halloween characters.

Our honorable mention, Skeleton, focuses more on science than math, but it’s the perfect Halloween game to introduce kids to the skeletal system and creep them out a little as they watch the different parts of the skeleton move.

Do you know of any other games designed to help kids learn math and have a bit of Halloween fun? If so, share them with us. We’d love to add them to our collection.

During the summer kids often spend their time running around, going on vacation, and enjoying some much deserved downtime. But unless they were engaged in specifically designed activities (like 25 Ways to Practice Math at the Pool), chances are they weren’t practicing math. During the summer, kids can lose over two months of math proficiency. This means that when school starts, they’re two months behind where they were when school ended. Thankfully, you can make a focused effort to help ensure kids’ math skills are where they need to be on the first day of school. As you start your back-to-school shopping and start transitioning into back-to-school mode, throw in some math practice too! We are here to help.

Conduct Basic Skill Drills

Kids need to have their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills down pat. (depending on their age of course). While math drills may not be incredibly exciting or the best method for teaching, they’re a great option for brushing up kids’ knowledge of these key skills. You can conduct a basic skill drill in a few ways:

• Use a set of flash cards
• Print off a sheet of problems for a timed drill
• Recite problems with a specific number from memory

If you notice kids need help with certain areas, add more problems related to those areas to the drills. Make it fun by making it a game, doing the drills with your child or doing the drills in shaving cream or other sensory bins.

Use a Review Book

If you’re not sure what skills kids need to know or don’t have a lot of time to drill kids, pick up a review book for kids to work on by themselves. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, your local dollar store may even have a basic review book that will work well for this purpose. Get a book that covers the grade your child just completed. All of the material in the book should be familiar and provide you with a simple way to help your child brush up on his skills. Instead of a math review book, you can also use a free online math review service. A few to consider include:

• TenMarks
• Khan Academy
• Math ABC

Of course, you can also use the free worksheets and math videos found at Math Game Time to help kids brush up on their skills.

Play Math Games

One other thing you’ll find at Math Game Time is plenty of free math games. Kids can also brush up on their math skills while playing some of their favorite apps and other popular games. Playing math games is a great way to help kids brush up on their math skills while still giving them a chance to have fun. After all, it’s still summer and you don’t want to cut that short.

It’s hot. It’s sunny. You might feel like you have to choose between keeping your kids’ minds active and doing something like heading to the pool. Well, why not do both!? Below you can find simple ideas to sneak in some math practice at the pool. We have the ideas divided by grade levels so you can dive on in!

Preschool and Kindergarten

• Ask kids to walk around the pool and count how many steps it takes
• Use a yard stick or other long object to measure the depth of the pool at different spots
• Bring along a set of measuring cups and have kids measure different amounts of water into a bucket
• Look at the clock at the beginning of rest break and have kids read the clock to figure out when the 15-minute rest break will end
• Use a stopwatch to help kids figure out how long it takes to walk around the pool
• Guess whether certain objects will sink or float, and then place them in the water to see what they do. Talk about the different traits of the objects to help understand why they sink or float
• Find different shapes around the pool. For example, a diving board is a rectangle
• Number a set of diving rings or sticks and toss them in a shallow part of the pool. Have kids collect them in order
• Play “What time is it, Mr. Shark?”, a version of “What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” to help kids build their counting skills

First through Third Grade

• Use a measuring tape to figure out the perimeter of the pool
• Take a standard object, such as a shoe or pool noodle, and see how many it would take to span the entire length of the pool
• Estimate how long it would take to fill the entire pool
• Compete to see who can hold their breath under water the longest, using the stopwatch or just counting to track time
• Figure how long the walk or the drive to the pool takes. Try multiple routes to see which is fastest
• Focus on weight and volume by dropping pool-friendly items of different weights into the water and see which one makes the biggest splash. You can do the same with kids of different sizes
• Head to the concession stand and figure out all the possible combinations of food you could buy with a given amount of money
• Write numbers on ping pong balls and throw them in the pool. Read out addition or subtraction problems and have kids scramble to grab the ping pong ball with the correct answer
• Throw a handful of coins into the bottom of the pool and have kids dive to collect specific amounts of money

Fourth through Sixth Grade

• Calculate the total area of the pool
• Determine how many people could fit in the pool at once
• Figure out the volume of the pool and how many gallons of water it contains
• Time how long it takes to swim from one end of the pool to the other or how long it takes to jump off the diving board and hit the water
• Race against other kids to see who is the fastest swimmer, using a stopwatch to officially clock times
• Grab some pH strips and test the pH levels in the pool. While technically a science skill, kids will learn to read a mathematical-style chart
• Write products on a bunch of Frisbees. Write multiplication problems on sponges. Place the Frisbees in the pool and have kids toss the sponges on to the correct products

Next time you head to the pool, grab this list, a stopwatch, and a few other supplies to help your kids learn a little while they cool off. We hope your pool time/math time goes swimmingly!

While there are plenty of educational games on the market, many of the games kids love have nothing to do with education… or so you think. Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Bubble Witch, and many other arcade-style games aren’t just mindless games. For example, did you know that Angry Birds Space was designed with help from NASA or that MIT has suggested that many arcade-style games could easily be modified to promote learning? Never judge a book (or an app) by its cover! These seemingly mindless games actually have a lot of potential for learning hidden inside.

Improving Math Skills

Many arcade-style games require math skills to play them successfully. For example, games such as Candy Crush and Bubble Witch require kids to make match colors and make patterns to score points. In Plants vs. Zombies, kids must keep track of time and the number of coins they have available to purchase items to help their performance in the game. In games like Angry Birds and bubble-shooting games, kids also indirectly learn about angles as they position the shooter to help them score the most points.

To help kids improve their math skills while playing popular games:

• Point out some of those math skills as they play by saying things such as, “Hmm… that looks like a 90 degree angle” or “you just took out a red, green, red pattern.”
• Create your own word problems using examples from the game. For example, Player A needs 5 sunflowers to successfully defeat the zombies. Each sunflower costs 50 sun. How many much sun does he need?
• Look at the number of points kids have earned and ask questions such as, “how many points do you need to unlock the next level?”

Vocabulary Building

Many of these games, such as Plants vs. Zombies, have narratives built into their structure. Because kids are so involved in the game, they are often able to comprehend more difficult words in context. The same is true when it comes to reading books about the games. For example, the Plants vs. Zombies Official Guide to Protecting Your Brains has a Lexile level of 860L, traditionally the 5^th or 6^th grade level, but a 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd grade child could easily understand some of the more difficult words in the text such as horde or collaborate.

To help kids build their vocabulary while playing popular games:

• Encourage them to read the instructions and any on-screen words out loud.
• Keep a special game word-list in a notebook or in a file on your computer and incorporate the words into vocabulary lessons.
• Have kids write stories about their favorite games which will naturally encourage them to use the vocabulary they’ve encountered.

Connecting to Social Studies

Often some of the biggest lessons are hidden within the characters and settings of the games. When kids play many of these games, they’re playing them in a variety of different settings. One round may have them playing in Ancient Egypt, while another may have them playing in a tropical rainforest.  While kids may not learn concrete details about these places, they’ll begin to develop an understanding of different geographic areas and many of the symbols and vocabulary related to them. Other times games require kids to follow maps to get through the game which helps reinforce basic map-reading and geography skills.

To help kids learn about social studies while they play:

• Point out when the setting changes and ask kids to describe where they think they are in the game.
• Ask kids what they need to do to get to a particular level, encouraging them to point out steps on the game’s path.
• Have kids explain what certain symbols in the game mean to connect with reading a map’s key and understanding different text formats.

Illustrating Scientific Principles

At its core, the game of Angry Birds is very much a physics game, with kids learning about gravity, force, motion, which is why it was natural for NASA to work with Rovio to create Angry Birds space. The same is true of many shooting and racing games. Kids who don’t understand motion or force may not be as successful at these games. While kids may not understand advanced physics by playing these games, they’ll get a lot of the basic principles down.

To help kids connect the games they’re playing to science:

• Ask kids to explain what happened and why it happened or to explain what they could do differently if something goes wrong.
• Set up experiments within the game. For example, see what happens if you always shoot the bird at a particular angle or what happens if you try to only pop balloons on the edges of a pile, rather than in the middle. Talk to kids about the results of the experiments.
• Point out any underlying scientific principles. For example, in Farm Heroes Saga kids must swap a seed with water to grow a flower, which connects with the fact that seeds need water to grow in real life.

Beyond the core academic skills, many of these games also help kids with social and emotional skills. As kids play, they learn to take risks and deal with failure. They also learn to set and reach goals throughout the game. These skills alone are very valuable and can be tapped into to help kids improve their academic performance too.

Happy playing!