Speed (basic fact practice, any operations students know)

Three In A Row (A game of logic and strategy)


    

Battle (basic fact practice, any operations)                     Add 'Em Up (multiplication/division facts)


     

Dice 1000 (3 digit addition and 3 digit multiplication)      Division Go Fish (division fact practice)             



Timed 5 Card Operations (all math operations students know/ fact families)
There is also an untimed version.

Below are commercially-bought games that took a very short time to turn into math tub activities.




Clever Catch Ball:  Students toss this beach ball gently back and forth; whatever math problem their left thumb lands on, they have to solve.  I have one for each of the four math operations.  You can also buy plain beach balls at the dollar store and write on them yourself with permanent marker.  You can program the balls with parts of speech, countries/capitals, vocabulary words, spelling words (read the word aloud to the partner and they must spell it correctly)... the possibilities are endless!  Be sure to have students model how to toss and how not to toss the ball, and don't be afraid to put away this activity if students get too wild with it.

Even worksheets can make great centers and math tubs!  The only problem is you must keep a supply of photocopies.  About once a month, put a center helper in charge of checking worksheet centers and math tubs to be sure they have enough copies.  The student can pull one copy of the sheets that are running low and place it in your file or basket of papers to take to the photocopier.  Also, some worksheets are simple enough that older students can copy the graphic organizer or framework onto their own paper.  This worksheet is an example of one simple enough that some students could make themselves, especially if you did not require that they copy the pictures of the die.

Many teachers have math bingo games, either store bought or handmade.  Pull a few bingo cards from your supply, along with extra chips/ place holders and photocopies of the fact problem cards and you're ready to go!  Students put the fact problem cards in a face-down stack and flip them over one at a time, covering the numbers on their boards as corresponding math problems are shown.  The first one with a completely full board wins.

This actually isn't commercial-made, but I included it here because you can adapt the materials I already created to make it.  If you go to FlashcardExchange.com and search for "Pasta Arrays", you can pull up the cards I made for this game.  The basis of the game is this:  students are given real-world division scenarios as if they owned an Italian restaurant.  They must divide up the dried pasta pieces (stored in the yogurt cups) to reflect the word problems on the cards.  Each player has different scenarios but should end up with the same amount of pasta at the end if they both play correctly.  The problems get progressively more difficult, and the answers are included (in the purple pouch).  It is a challenging activity I generally give my above-grade-level students.

MORE RESOURCES: Looking for printable math games?

Best for grades 1-2, The School Bell is a tremendous resource for free flashcards, dominoes, gameboards, playing cards, and creative and unusual math games.  Some of what I made this summer using the resources from this site are below (please check out The School Bell for close-ups, downloads, and instructions- these weren't my ideas!)  You will be astounded at how much work this teacher has put into making these materials and putting them on the 'net FOR FREE!!  Enjoy! 

Number Family Tubs Printables from The School Bell

PreK/K math tub ideas from Hubbard's Cupboard 

'Kids are Special' has ahHuge collection of math tub games and links to other teachers' math tub explanations

Also try the Broken Hill School (New Wales) website for printable math card games.

Here are some great tips for differentiating math instruction through small groups and math games.