These are commercially-bought games that took a very short time to turn into math tub activities.
Even if you don't use Math Tubs, you can still use the activities below as centers!!




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.

STORING MATH TUBS

Throughout my various classrooms, I have used a large crate as a math tub (all games were inside large baggies which I distributed to students), the type of tubs you see to the left in this picture, and a hanging shoe organizer like the one to the right in this picture.  The type of organization system you choose should be based upon what materials you have and the size/type of your math tubs.  If you have lots of board games and larger materials, the shoe organizer won't work (or could only be a part of your math tub area), but if you use only the games I have available to print on this site, you should be able to fit every inside small pockets with no problems.

Here's a close-up of two of the pockets.

This is where I stored the math tub activities I was not currently using in my MD classroom.  The green box holds games in plastic bags.  The round plastic container (which used to hold kettle korn from the beach) contains miniature playing card sets from the dollar store that the students use to play whole class games of Battle.  The Math Review box (which used to hold pasta in Walmart- I took it and covered it in white paper) holds math bingo games and flashcards.  Underneath are board games that were either designed to reinforce math skills, or contain altered rules I created to make them educational and appropriate for young children.  (I also use Scrabble, Scrabble Junior, Go For Broke, a version I made of Risk, and sometimes Monopoly.  You can see Rack-O in the picture- that's a cheap and wonderful game that provides number order/greater than/less than practice).  On the bottom shelf is a big blue mat divided into squares- I'm not sure where it came from, but I use it as a Jeopardy board with clues written on sticky note.  Misc. manipulatives are kept on the bottom, including dice, which are often used for whole class games, as well.
 

Important Tip: 

Many Math Tub activities require only dice or playing cards.  If you get enough sets from the dollar store, you can play them as whole-class activities.  This is a great way to introduce the games to the class and make sure the know how to play before beginning Math Tub rotations.  All students should be familiar with the games BEFORE allowed to play them independently during math tub time.  This will probably take several weeks. 

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

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.