How do you Engage Second-Grade?
The best way to engage second-graders is to use games and activities that excite them while simultaneously learning at play or completing the given task. For exFor example, using
35 Fun Math Activities for Second Grade
If you’re wondering, “what math activities are good for second grade?” then wonder no more! We’ve got 35 good math activities for a second grade; all you need to do is keep reading
- Make Ten: This is a super easy game that can be played with a pack of cards! As the name suggests, make ten with any combination of cards from a standard package. This can be increased for difficulty.
- Mystery Shapes: Place a few 3D shapes into bags and have kids feel inside and tell you what condition they think it is! They will have to count the sides and edges with their hands to deduce what shape it is.
- Head-to-Head Dice: Students can go head-to-head in this fun game where a pair or more of students are given three dice each to roll and must compete to see who gets the highest number in total.
- Fraction Pizza: Probably the tastiest second-grade math activity on the list – this can be played next time pizza is on the menu, where kids have to work out how much pizza remains after each slice is removed as a fraction!
- Counting Rod Activities
- Math Race: Have students line up at one end of a classroom or, better yet, outside and answer multiple-answer math questions by raising their hand to their chosen answer. Every student that raises their hand at the correct answer gets to move forward a step. Whoever gets to the other side or goal line wins!
- Egg Carton Math: This game needs an old egg carton, marker, and counters. Write numbers inside the empty egg carton where the eggs would normally sit, place your counters inside (starting with two is fine), and shake it! Then, open up and see which numbers your counters have landed on. Use these numbers for your score, and then see who gets to 100 first!
- Rush Hour: Use old clocks or toy ones and have kids move their hands forward, determined by what the roll of their dice dictates. Whoever gets to the end of the 24-hour day wins!
- Close Call: Another card game where students each flip four cards and must use the digits to make two numbers; they can add those numbers to see who can get the highest at the end!
- Graph and Grow: This long-term activity pays off in the end.
- Bean Bag Math Toss: Label separate buckets, bins, boxes, or containers with different place values and have other color bean bags worth different values that are tossed into the containers. Students must then add up all the different values at the end of the game!
- Hop-Scotch Math Style: Write out different numbers in the hop-scotch boxes and have kids answer math questions based on the number in front of them; they then advance if they get it right. If they get it wrong, they could have to go backward and subtract for increased difficulty!
- Fill the Piggy Bank: Draw a big piggy bank on a whiteboard and print off some paper coins that can be added inside the piggy bank. However, only coins that have been added together and given the correct answer can be added. This is great for the whole class to get involved in!
- Dollar Dash: Assign the numbers on dice as different coins, one = a penny, two = nickel, three = dime, four = quarter, five = half a dollar, six = roll again. Then race to see who reaches the value of a dollar first!
- Math Olympics: This activity is great because it gets kids outside and active! Perform different Olympics sports such as the long jump, running, and high jump, and have students measure the heights and lengths using measurements like yards, feet, meters, inches, etc.
- Ordering Numbers
- KABOOM: For this second-grade math activity, you will need plastic coins, popsicle sticks, and a cup. Glue some coins onto the bars and hold them up to your students; if they answer the correct total of the cash on the stick, they get to keep it; if they answer incorrectly, they go KABOOM! And must place their post back in the cup!
- Math Flashcards: Make some math flashcards with questions on one side and the answers on the back. Each kid gets to keep their card if they answer correctly, and the first to reach 15 wins! Difficulty can be increased by starting with simple addition and subtraction questions and then moving on to multiplication and division.
- Place Value Scavenger Hunt: This game is great as it’s a great way to use old magazines or newspapers before recycling them! First, make a scavenger checklist based on place values such as “find a 5 in the tens” or “find a 3 in the hundreds” then, students must search through the old magazines or newspapers and see if they can complete their scavenger hunt. Whoever finishes theirs first could even win a prize!
- Buddy Balls: A simple game where one student holds a paper cup and their partner, or “buddy,” throws balls of cotton wool into the cup. They will then see if the final number of cotton balls in the cup is odd or even. Then, they can take calls holding and throwing.
- Tic-Tac-Toe Mathematics
- 21: Kids get to flip playing cards and try to get as close to 21 as they can by adding the value of their cards together; however, if they pick to flip a card that takes them over 21, they lose!
- Making Hand Measurements Game: Conventional measurements can confuse some kids, so why not use less conventional measurements to measure their hands? This is also a great opportunity for kids to use their imaginations as they must find sets of objects to measure their hands. For example, using erasers or paperclips to measure.
- Gumdrop Geometry: Ok, so we thought the pizza fractions game was delicious; this might be up there, too. Students must make geometric shapes using gumdrops and toothpicks. Set challenges for them! And as a reward, why not try convincing them teacher gets to eat the gumdrops if they succeed?
- Sidewalk Chalk Game: Draw a “ladder” on the sidewalk with chalk and write different math questions between each rung that are appropriate for second-graders. You can make a large die out of cardboard or just a regular one (try not to lose it outside!), then whatever number the die lands on, they get to move up the ladder and answer the question they landed on!
