Hi! I'm a volunteer teacher at a private school in Mexico. Because of the lack of interest in math, and lots of gaps in the math textbooks, I'm trying to supplement the math program with an extra class once or twice a week.

My main purpose is to help the kids see how useful and interesting math can really be--to make math really fun for them. I'm also trying to boost their mental arithmetic skills with contests.

Anyway, my question is, do any of you have any math games or activities that you recommend?

Or a syllabus for a year's worth of activities...

I'm working with kids from 6th grade through 12th grade, but they could all benenfit from basic arithmetic drills.

I'll give a greenie for every good idea! Thanks!

Bring in tall and short glasses or cups of various widths, have them 'bet' which will hold the most (ranking 1 - last), then fill them.
Build a small wall display box for action figures or charms, with shelves inside at 'stepped' heights.
See free 'daily sodoku' online. Make 2 big ones on the wall and have the boys compete against the girls.
Boys (or girls): does a basketball go in more often if at a low angle or high?
Girls (or boys): why can you see yourself in a mirror when you are off to one side?
Both: If one person named Washington had 4 children, and each of them had 4 and so on down the line, how many would there be after 5 generations?
Have teams of 2 find the best deal with shipping of 4 different items online.
In 12th grade, have 2 teams sell 5 things on eBay in an account the school sets up and then changes the password on.

Oops, Mexico... change the sport and change the name, and I'm not sure about getting paid on eBay in Mexico.

One summer I tutored a boy going into 5th grade. He was very weak on times tables, so we made bunches of 5x5 (?) cards for a bingo game--one side of each card had an answer in each square, and the other side had a times problem in each square. I had him help me make the bingo cards out of poster board and magic marker (thus engaging him in the project) and used times equations that were more difficult (not 1x2). We used checkers (or pennies) as bingo markers and took turns calling out numbers/problems (and of course kept track of the ones called out). This works best with two or more players and one caller. You'd have to figure out if you want to award prizes.

Thanks to both of you!

Joy--actually, these particular kids like basketball almost as much as soccer--the girls more so. I even think the eBay project is possible, though it would involve quite a bit of investigation. I liked the volume guessing and the generation calculating games--think I'll keep those in mind for January!

Wondergirl--sounds good! What about playing a sped-up variation the second time around, calling out the numbers, say, every 2 seconds? Or would it be too confusing?

Any more ideas of active games involving groups of 6 to 8 kids?

I'd start at normal speed, but as the students become more proficient, then do a "speed bingo" or some other variation. You could have easy cards that you first do the speed bingo with, just to get the kids used to the idea. I went up to 12x12 for the hard ones.

I haven't searched, but I bet the Internet is full of ideas. If you can't find any or many, holler and I will search.

Thanks!

Feliz Navidad!