Games that will Help Children Memorize Math Facts

December 23, 2021

Many children have trouble memorizing math facts. Some seem to not be able to learn them to begin with; others might know them for a short time and then not be able to remember them the very next day. There is help for this situation! Instead of memorizing facts using flashcards, tap into the child’s ability to remember visuals instantly.

The math games below will help so much! It is never going to be best to hand children a stack of flash cards with facts on them and then drill every day until they know them. The problem with plain memorization is that children will just have to remember combinations of symbols and there is no real meaning attached to this activity.

The best way to prepare a beginner or to remediate a struggler is to take the time to lay some visual background for computation.

First, play the dot games that will teach children how many each number is. Dot arrays are an easy way to do this. When children can glance at an arrangement of dots and just “feel” how many dots there are, they are beginning to understand what each number symbol really means.

Next, arrange the dots in ways that show (don’t tell) combinations of numbers. For instance, if you have a dot pattern with two dots near each other and three a little over from the first two, the children will see that 2 dots and 3 dots are 5 dots. They won’t be memorizing numbers facts, rather they will be learning visually before having to memorize. Later if they are confronted with a flashcard that says “2 + 3 =” their visual memory will supply the visual of the arrangement of colorful dots they played with earlier. So when they come to formal computation, what they will do is actually visualize the answer rather than memorizing or counting on fingers. WOW! You will be so happy you took the time to lay a strong visual background!