Math is among the most widely used skill that students learn during their education. Regardless of job title and lifestyle, people use math in their daily life. This makes teaching kids math fundamentals an essential part of early childhood education.
Math is a subject that can be daunting to students, leading to a lack of confidence in the subject. Math kits are an excellent gift for kids of any age to practice and improve their math skills. By improving skills, students can gain comfortability and confidence in the subject, which will help them throughout their education, in their future careers, and in their everyday lives.
STEM Sports® has compiled a list of fun, engaging math gifts for kids:
Math Books
Math books are a great tool for kids to engage in math learning at their own pace in the classroom or at home. There are great math books for kids regardless of age and skill level.
- K-2:
The Doorbell Rang: This picture book introduces students to the basics of counting, addition, and subtraction. With its light-hearted approach, this book allows students to engage with math and enjoy learning. - 3-6:
Life of Fred: This book is perfect for any student who is beginning to learn about fractions or is looking to improve their skills. This book comes with a variety of different topics, allowing you to pick the perfect gift based on the child’s interests. - 7-8:
This is NOT a Math Book: This is the ultimate STEAM book that improves students’ geometry skills through the use of art. This disguised learning method engages left and right-brained students and allows them to learn through hands-on learning. - 9-12:
Everything You Need to Ace Pre-Algebra and Algebra I in One Big Fat Notebook: In a fun and non-threatening format, high school students can learn, refresh or improve their math skills. This is a great summer gift to help students prepare for the coming school year.
Math and Pattern Blocks
Math and pattern blocks are a great way to engage young students in math. They help children to understand color matching, sizing, and patterns. As children progress through their education, it can also be used to teach them basic addition and subtraction. The longevity of these math kits makes it a great gift for a pre-kindergarten to a third-grade student.
Math Board Games
Math board games use disguised learning to make math learning fun and engaging! These are a great way to get family or friends involved in the learning process, teaching essential soft skills such as communication and collaboration.
A great math board game to use at home is Prime Climb. This game helps children practice multiplication, division, and prime numbers. This fast-paced game will not only improve your child’s math skills but will help them to create a positive association with math.
Math Video Games
Children love video games. This on-screen time can be used to improve math skills in an environment where they are comfortable. There are a variety of games that can be played on personal computers (PCs) and game consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch.
Below are five math video games to improve your child or students’ math skills:
Math Dice
Math dice can be used to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, and number recognition. In a traditional education setting or in a game format, students increase their comfortability with the base 1-10 numbers, which is proven to improve student performance in core mathematics and beyond!
Click here for a comprehensive list of games to play with students to improve math skills in a fun environment.
Dominoes
Starting as early as preschool, dominoes can be a unique way to introduce learning math to kids. These can be used to teach order, sorting, additional, subtraction, and multiplication.
Aside from their educational benefits, dominoes also allow players to improve their concentration and critical thinking skills. This will help your child perform better in the classroom, gaining skills to help them in their future career.
Toy Cash Register
Toy cash registers are a great way to engage your child’s imagination and introduce them to the basics of numbers. In an entertaining setting, children can learn to sort money and do basic addition and subtraction.
This makes a great gift for birthdays or holidays because it is a tangible toy that improves math comprehension. This gift will look like a fun toy to play with; but, it can actually be used to prepare your child for the coming school year!
Become a Human Calculator – Kids Addition
The Human Calculator offers courses for adults and children to improve their math skills through better understanding the power behind numbers. Become a Human Calculator – Kids Addition offers over 200 lessons/drills to facilitate math learning. When you purchase this math kit, children are also connected with other learners, creating a community that can help each other and connect over a mutual love for math.
STEM Sports® Math Gifts for Kids
STEM Sports® offers K-8 curricula that use sports to facilitate science, technology, engineering, and math learning. Sports are a great way to engage students in STEM lessons using an environment that is fun, engaging, and familiar to them. It also presents an opportunity to give real-world examples of what students are learning. Answering the question, “why am I learning this?”.
All sports utilize statistics and metrics to gauge team and player performance. STEM Sports® uses these natural connections to teach students complex STEM concepts in a way that is easy to understand and engage in. During a STEM Soccer lesson, students predict the outcome of a shootout by determining the larger fraction. Students then write the outcome of a shootout in a mathematical expression by using a greater, less than, or equal to symbol.
STEM Sports® curricula can be used at home, in the classroom, during summer camps, or in after-school programs. If you are looking for a way to engage your students or child in math, click here to learn more about STEM Sports® current curricula offerings.
