Math Games: Ten Frame Matching Game

Math games are a great way to practice and review math skills and math content.  What about a giant memory game?  I mean, who doesn’t remember playing memory or concentration from when you were a kid?!    (Does anyone remember the game show where the prize round at the end was the person matching the two pieces of the car? If they matched them all, they won that car?!   Anyways…)

 

This game gets kids up and moving and is great for practicing number recognition and counting skills.  It’s also great for math dialogue because the kids are talking and helping one another.  There were also lots of giggles and laughter! As a bonus, you can use this as a center game or activity or as a matching game!

 

 

I made ten giant frames (mustache, of course) and numbers and printed them on bright cardstock.  Then, I laminated them for durability.

 

 

First, we review our math vocabulary.  What is a ten frame?  How does it help us?  Why do we use it?  Then, we review our counting strategies:  subitizing, touch and count, etc. 

 

On one side of the carpet, I placed the numbers face down in random order.  I did the same thing with the ten frame cards on the other side of the carpet.

 

 

 

 

To play,  I call a student to turn over a number and a ten frame. We counted to see if we had a match. Each time, we also had a little conversation about remembering where that ten frame was.

 

 

 

 

If the number and ten frame did not match, we left the number up, turned over the ten frame, and had someone come up and choose another ten frame. We continued until we found the right ten-frame!

 

 

 

 

Now, I will say this…it took about 10 minutes to find our first match.  And quite honestly, I was getting very nervous that this game might not work….but after we found that first match, we were off and running.

 

It was fascinating to see them helping each other, pointing, and giving advice, and to see them start remembering where we saw certain ten frames. And if they turned over that pink two-ten frame once, they turned it over a billion times. Seriously.

 

 

This picture sums it up—look at him cheering in the background. That’s how the game went. For 30 minutes, we were engaged, talking math, cheering, and supporting each other.

 

I call that a successful lesson!

 

Click the image below to get your free giant ten-frame memory game!