Ideas for Games

Peg SeIze

A great game to play with the Pegs and Boards to encourage subitising, developing mathematical language and ultimately fluency.

 
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The Last Peggie

The Last Peggie is a game from the Intervention Programme and Games Pack. There are many layers to the learning. Here are a few more ideas for the game:

  • Players can create the number on the board with their fingers to promote a multi sensory representation of numbers.

  • Pegs can be removed randomly to see different patterns to extend subitising.

  • You could start the game with 15 or 20 pegs and remove 1, 2 or 3 pegs.

Can the players find strategies for winning?

Race to The Treasure

Race to the Treasure is a game from the Intervention Programme and Games Pack. Sometimes when children play boardgames, they do so without thinking, for instance counting in ones from the point they are at. Small changes to how we play boardgames can really bring out the maths learning. Here are some key objectives from the primary school curriculum with ideas on how the game can maximise learning in these areas:

  • Count within 20 starting at any number

Practice counting on, for example, if you are on 7 and you throw 3, instead of counting ‘one, two, three’; count ‘eight, nine, ten’.

  • Reason about the location of numbers within 20

Use the game to give purpose and a motivation for developing an appreciation of the magnitude of a number. Incorporate this into the game saying, for example ‘ I am on 7 and you are on 10. 10 is greater than 7, so you are winning’ or ‘7 is less than 10, so you are winning’

  • Compose and partition numbers to 20 (including an early understanding of place value)

When using the Pegs and Boards to make numbers, children can be encouraged to see how numbers are composed, such as 7, composed as 5 and 2 or 13 composed as 10 and 3.

  • Develop fluency in addition and subtraction facts

Using the language associated with addition and subtraction, children can practice many calculations while playing. For example, ‘I am on 7 and throw 3. 7 add 3 equals 10’. I am on 13 and need to get to 20. ‘20 subtract 13 equals 7’. Develop fluency of number facts by moving away from counting in ones and ‘jump’ along the board if the fact is known. For example, ‘I know that 7 add 3 is 10, so I can go straight from 7 to 10 without counting each circle’. The opponent will ensure that the calculation is correct!