Your child is sure to have fun learning their numbers with this school bus counting cool math game! One of the first math skills that kids need to learn is identifying numbers and counting. This DIY cool math game can help with both!
Why Make Your Own Cool Math Game for Kids
Yeah, it’s true… You can buy counting games for your kids. There are a ton of fun ones out there, but if your kids are like mine- their attention span isn’t very long. Once they’ve played with a game or toy a handful of times, they’re ready for something new. This can get costly!
Making learning games for kids does not have to be difficult, expensive or time consuming! We recycled an egg carton for this game. With just a few other craft supplies, we were done in 10 minutes.
How Make a School Bus Cool Math Game for Kids
Gather some supplies:
- Egg Carton
- Yellow and Black Construction Paper or Cardstock
- Pen/Marker
- Glue Stick
- Scissors
- Pom Poms
- Number cards (download printable below!)
Directions:
- Loosely measure the egg carton to see how big of a piece of the yellow construction paper you need to cover the egg carton. Then glue it on. I made sure to open the carton before gluing, so that it will continue to open for the game.
- Cut out black squares or rectangles for the windows and circles for the tires.
- I used a marker to write School Bus #1 on the side and the top.
- Once the outside of your school bus is ready, go ahead and open it up. We used a carton from a dozen eggs so there are 12 spots. I used the first as the ‘start space’ and the last as the ‘finish’. The ones in between I marked each one with a number, going from 1 to 10.
- Grab the number card printable and cut out the numbers.
How to Play School Bus Math Game for Kids
There are a ton of ways that this can be used to play counting games! Here are a few of our favorites:
- Mix up the number cards upside down on the table. Have the child pick one number and put that number of pom poms in that numbered slot, until all of the slots are full.
- Mix up the number cards, upside down on the table. Have the child pick one number and put pom poms in every slot up to that number, counting the numbers as you go. Empty the carton and try another number.
- Start the same way as the last idea, but instead of emptying it- have the child work up to ten. See how many numbers have to be pulled to make it to ten. Then empty and try again.
- For more of a challenge, use the number cards as part of an equation, addition or subtraction, and have the child mark the answer with a pom pom in the carton.
This cool math game for kids is not only excellent for strengthening beginning math skills, like number identification and counting, but it is going to help strengthen fine motor skills as well! Children will need to use their pincer grasp to pick up the pom pom and open fingers to drop it. This motion is crucial for strengthening the muscles that will be needed for holding a pencil, using a zipper or tying shoes. Have fun!
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