I’m always looking for EASY-to-implement math activities that are hands-on, FUN, and focus on building really strong basic skills. So I thought I’d share a few of my firsties’ repeat favourites that come out several times each school year. Some games are perfect for partner play, others work great independently, and best of all—most of them are FREE!

I love using these games as math centers, early finisher activities, or quick grab-and-go practice from kindergarten through first grade. They’re low prep, high engagement, and give students meaningful math practice without feeling like “work.”

Beat You to 10! focuses on basic one-to-one correspondence, counting, and the foundation of addition through the use of visual “more or less” representations. There are two ways to play this one:

OPTION #1:

In partners, students take turns rolling a single die and colouring in the corresponding number of boxes on their side (i.e. either the boxes under “Player 1” or “Player 2”). For example, if Player 1 rolls 2 dots on the die, they will colour in 2 boxes. The first player to colour in 10 boxes wins.

TIP: print the games on cardstock (or back it on colourful construction paper) and laminate it. That way students can colour their boxes with whiteboard markers and play over and over again!

TRICK: You may have noticed the snap cubes in the picture up there; When my students play this game, I have them roll the die, then build a tower representing the number they rolled before colouring it in on their worksheet. For example, if a student rolls two dots on the die, they will snap together 2 cubes to begin their tower, then colour in 2 boxes on the worksheet. That way you hit various learning styles by incorporating a hands-on element through building…plus it adds to overall game time.

OPTION #2:

In partners, students take turns rolling two dice, add up the dots, and colour the corresponding number of boxes. For example, if Player 1 rolled 2 dots on one die and 3 dots on the other, they will colour 5 boxes. Obviously this way takes significantly less time to finish the game and reach 10, but it’s a great way to introduce/practice simple addition. I often move to two dice later in the year and one of those hundreds number boards 👆

This FREE 100 Chart Puzzle can be either low-prep or NO PREP, depending on the option you choose:

OPTION #1: NO PREP

Print off copies of one of the 100 chart (4 options provided). I suggest using coloured paper with the black and white versions to brighten things up!
Have them available at a station for students to design their own puzzles and cut out according to their own pre-drawn “maze” template
Once cut apart, they can work to put it back together either on their own, or switch puzzles with a partner.

OPTION #2: LOW-PREP (I usually start with this at the beginning of the year then transition to the independent version 👆 once they master this)

Same as above, but YOU create pre-made puzzles, each cut up in a different way. In this case, I like to laminate them as well to provide durability and to be able to reuse them year after year.
It’s up to you how difficult or easy you make them (some have larger parts (i.e. cut up into less pieces), and some have pieces as small as one number.

Here is another super simple (FREE) game to practice addition up to 10, but this time, with the use of 10-frames…yay for subitizing!

You can play by yourself, but it’s more fun in pairs. After you’ve printed the game board (you can also print the coloured version and laminate it for repeat reuse), here’s how to play:

Each player will have 10 counters, each their own colour (you can use anything from bingo chips and counting bears, to ripped up pieces of scrap paper). E.g. if Player 1 has 10 blue bingo chips, then Player 2 will have 10 green bingo chips.
Play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who goes first (PSST: whoever goes first is always the winner but they don’t catch on to this, so make sure they alternate who goes first!🤭).
Player 1 will place 1 bingo chip on any of the toolbox ten-frames, then place another on a tool box ten-frame to make 10. For example, if they choose to place their first chip on a ten-frame with 6 dots, then they will place their second chip on a ten-frame with 4 dots.
Then it’s Player 2’s turn to place their first bingo chip on any toolbox, then on a second to make 10.
Continue taking turns placing down two chips at a time and covering two toolboxes that add up to 10 until all toolboxes are covered. Whoever makes 10 the most wins (i.e. whoever has covered the most toolboxes).

For this making 10, introduction-to-addition activity you need two sided counters (I use the circle counters with red on one side and yellow on the other, as pictured) and a cup. The kids place the specified number of counters in their cup, SHAKE it up, and SPILL it on a flat surface. Students record how many counters are red and how many are yellow, making sure to group the colours together (i.e. all the red are together, and all the yellow are together). Grab the FREE version HERE!

I also always have a few different addition & subtraction worksheets available in our Fast Finisher trays throughout the year, and will pull a few of the beefier pages (such as the color by sum/difference activities) to use as center activities from time to time. These are my favourite because they cover such a wide angle of skills to not only provide extra practice, but to support mastery!

When it comes to focusing on these basic number sense skills, word problems are always a super important piece of the puzzle. I make up these one-step addition problem solving booklets to set out as one of my math center activities.

If you’re interested in how I ran my math centers in first grade, you can read about that HERE.

Whether students are teaming up or working on their own, these games make math time fun, flexible, and full of learning wins! 📌👇 PIN the images below to save for later. What are some of your favourite math game staples?