Maths Mentals, Maths Challenge, Times Table Quiz or a Number of the Day activity are all great ideas to use as an introduction to your daily Mathematics lesson. By sticking to the same thing each day students will be familiar with the warm-up routine and it should be a quick transition then into your numeracy lesson.

Using games as an brain warm up or as revision of a number concept is also a great way to start your lessons. Ensure though that games only run for five to ten minutes so that it does not take away from the bulk of your lesson.

Below you will find some game ideas to try out with your class. These games can really be used for any grade level, just use a range of numbers suitable for your students and differentiate depending upon ability.

For K-2 Classes

• Hundreds Charts – provide each student with a number chart 1-100 or one depending upon their ability and ask them to locate a given number. Identify the number that is ten more, ten less, a number that comes before and after. Do this with several numbers asking a range of students.

• Jumbled Hundreds Chart - Cut up and laminate a hundreds chart in chunks of five or fewer numbers and a variety of shapes. Students must put the jigsaw back together to create a hundreds chart. Could be timed

• Biggest Number – make two lines, start by flashing two cards to the first two students. They must make the biggest number using the two cards flashed by the teacher. First person to say the number gets a point for their line.

• Corners – label four walls in the room as north, south, east and west. Revise the four compass points. Call out corners and last person to get there is out.  

• How many? – write a start number on the board, or say it aloud. For example, 47. Ask how many tens will we have to count to get past 100? Repeat for other numbers. Extend to starting from 234 and saying how many hundreds to get past one thousand.

• Buzz off – students stand in a circle and go around the circle counting by 5s to 50. If a mistake is made that person is out and the count is started again from 5. Once students reach 50 they say buzz, off, hair, legs and the next person is out.

• Number Busting – allocate a number and students have to write down all the ways that number can be made. Using addition or subtraction. Share at the end.

• Circle Champion – students sit on the floor in a circle. One student is selected to stand behind another. Roll 2 large dice and the students must give the number of the two dice added together. The first one to say the correct answer moves to stand behind the next person in the circle. For Kindergarten classes, it could even be as simple as identifying the number pattern.

• Skip Counting – start counting a sequence out loud and ask the students to join in when they know the pattern. For example, count in fives from 123, count in twenty fives from 50, count back in fives.

• Basic Count – count forwards together to a given number, count backwards together from a given number. Do not always start from one. Create a clapping pattern to count to which sets the beat and timing. It may involve clapping hands then knees, or clapping shoulders then heads.

• Number Line – draw a number line on the board, in the range of 1-10, 1-100, 500 – 1000 depending upon the skills of your students. Ask students to identify where given numbers would fall or point to a position on the line and ask students to estimate the value.

• Silent Number Line - give each student a number card and they must without talking put themselves in order from smallest to largest.

• Number Order - give a pair of students either numbers 1-10, 1-20 or 1-30 depending upon their ability and they must put the numbers in order starting from one, or backwards from their highest number.

• Mystery Number – display a hundred chart on the board. A student chooses a number and tells the teacher (so there is no cheating). The class must ask questions to determine the number e.g. is it an odd/even number, is it in the thirties, is it less/greater than fifty… The teacher marks off the numbers that do not correspond with the answer.

For 3-6 Classes

• Circle Champion – students sit on the floor in a circle. One student is selected to stand behind another. Roll 2 large dice and the students must give the number of the two dice multiplied together. The first one to say the correct answer moves to stand behind the next person in the circle.

• Angles – ask the students to use two arms to make a right angle. Ask another student to make a different angle. Ask the class to estimate the angle and discuss what they say. Ask them to make straight, obtuse, acute angles using their arms.

• Equivalences – students line up in two lines. Ask the first two students at the top of the line a question. You can ask it orally or have it on the board. First, one to give the correct answer goes to the end of the line or you can play once they have had their turn they both go to the end of the line. Example Questions; How many minutes in a day? How many seconds in a minute? One week is how many days? How many centimetres in a metre? How many grams in a kilogram? How many millilitres in a litre? How many months in a year? How many weeks in one year?  

• In Between Bingo – students write down five, four digit numbers on a whiteboard. Teacher calls out ‘between 1387 and 1435’ and so on and write it on the board. If the students have a number between those two numbers, they can cross it out. First person to have all their numbers crossed out wins.

• Starter of The Day – have the Transum Starter of the Day on the board for the students to complete.

• Mystery Addition – this can be played as a whole class or in groups of 3. Students stand up and without looking at the other player’s numbers, writes a number between 2 and 9. The third player calls out the sum of the numbers and the winner is the person who can figure out what number the other player has first. This can be differentiated by increasing or decreasing numbers, or by having the third player find the product instead of the sum.

What are other fun maths warm-up games you like to play? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.