Maths games and gifts for 5 year old

[Beansandneedles]

DS seems to be really enjoying numbers. I'm not great with maths and don't naturally gravitate towards numbers, but would like to make an effort to nurture this whilst he's showing a natural interest. So far I've bought a workbook (not my finest idea but it was me making an effort!) and a times table card for his yoto, which gets listened to quite a bit. But wondering if there are games/things out there aimed at keeping maths fun whilst also learning? Hell maybe I'll learn something!!

Some of the Orchard games are good. There’s Counting Mountain for example.

There's loads of orchard toys games aimed at different educational things. If you look on their website you can filter by age and topic. They also provide replacement parts for free which makes them a great bet for buying second hand on vinted or charity shops

@DelurkingAJ @KnickerlessFlannel thanks! We actually have a bunch of orchard games and I forgot they do maths ones. Will have a look. Games have been great for mental arithmetic so far, it's like sneaky learning when he's adding up the points etc.

Someone mentioned today they have a numberblocks set for their kid, who is the same age and also enjoying numbers, which is what got me to thinking I could probably introduce some bits so we're learning but keeping it fun.

Got This for my child. She likes it x

p.s hope the link works. I always seem to mess it up.

Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Marvellous Maths Game

This Numberblocks kit

Learning Resources LSP0949-UK MathLink Cubes Numberblocks 1-10 Activity Set, Early Years Maths Learning, Build, Learn & Play in The Classroom & at Home.,27.5 x 21.3 x 3.2 cm, Multicolour amzn.eu/d/cmLRw96

Or the 100 plain blocks version

Learning Resources MathLink Cubes (Set of 100) Linking/ Counting Block Set, Early Math Skills, for School & Home Maths Learning Ages 5+ amzn.eu/d/5yTojxz

Tiny Polka Dot from Math for Love is great. There’s lots of different ways you can play and it’s brilliant for getting a sound understanding of the basics.

My son loves maths games. He is 6 now but has been playing these since maybe 4?

A google on internet will get these:

Shut the box
learning resources sum swamp
number blocks kit
any kind of wooden tangram puzzle kit

The Learning resources website is great for STEM toys and games. Think Fun on Amazon also have lots of good logical puzzles and lateral thinking type games.

Numberblocks are such a fantastic resource. I think they do a (weekly? Monthly?) comic too maybe? Our EYFS curriculum is linked to it via a maths mastery programme. If he doesn’t watch the show already, it’s definitely worth a look.

Shut the box is great for number bonds which is a key part of early maths. Generally playing with numbers and how they relate to each other - numicon is fab but expensive (might get lucky on marketplace?).

Sorry to hop on this thread with a question, but are any of the games recommended here any good specifically for teaching about units, tens, hundreds etc?
I'm struggling with how to explain this to DS5 in a way that he understands - he doesn't get why twenty-five is written 25 and not 52, for example, and no amount of me colouring in squares on a grid is helping him get it!

Numberblocks all the way!

Also ask at school if they have any subscriptions to online resources.

@HowFarToBanburyCross Check out this Numberblocks episode on numbers 11-15: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0005y9m/numberblocks-series-4-tens-place there's also a Numberblocks YouTube channel with episodes on it too.

Get some base 10 equipment
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blocks-Learning-Manipulative-Concepts-Counting/dp/B0D2HFZSM8/ref=asc_df_B0D2HFZSM8/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10621701465541866838&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9193760&hvtargid=pla-2281435176458&psc=1&mcid=dcbdab9a3f7f38dfbc215ab6c26fcd1c&hvocijid=10621701465541866838-B0D2HFZSM8-&hvexpln=74&gad_source=1

and play "score 50"

You throw a die and get that number of unit cubes. Write the score on a whiteboard/paper
Second player does the same. Continue taking turns and adding to your score, once you get over 10, exchange 10 units for a 10 rod. Keep going. First one to score 50 or more wins.

The secret is to do the exchanging of units for tens AND also write down your cumulative score each time so that they get the visual representation and how the numbers work.

A harder version is to do "Score 100" using 2 dice

You can also do it using 10p pieces and pennies but the visual representation isn't quite as good because the 10p isn't the actual size of 10 pennies.

@NonStopMoaning Thank you! He does enjoy Numberblocks so I'll check out that episode!

@EducatingArti Ah! He went to a Montessori nursery, and they had some of these as part of their Montessori curriculum (although I'm sure they don't have a monopoly on them!) But I've never understood how to use them. I think he would enjoy the score 50 / score 100 game! Thanks!

Can I echo pp who recommended the board game Sum Swamp, both my kids absolutely loved it and it’s really good for practicing subtraction (most games seem to focus on addition).

I keep a pot of pennies to hand while we play so we can “show” 6+4 and 5-2

If he‘s got an aptitude for maths he might like logic games. DS was playing draughts at that age, which is a good precursor to chess. I think we also introduced peg solitaire at 5 1/2.

A year later we introduced him to chess, now at nearly 8 he’s obsessed.

UNO is a good card game for numbers, which DS enjoyed at 5.

Play money is good. And anything Numberblocks.

Thanks! We do play draughts, peg solitaire and Uno quite a bit. Ligretto is a good one for number recognition too.

He's keen on the idea chess. Didn't realise draughts would be a good foundation!! The skill level is noooooot there yet. Understandably. But it's painful to watch 😂

Play money is a good idea! I handle cash a lot for work (which comes home before I bank it) so we played shop with that before but it feels morally iffy and I live in fear some will go missing 😅

My 5yo started playing chess at Christmas in his Reception year when someone bought him a set. It might not be too soon.

He also loved Ludo and snakes and ladders with 2 or 3 dice (sneaky number bonds!).

Rummikub good for sequences.

The Carol Vorderman workbooks are much loved here as well,depending on his reading abilities.

Obviously, if you play Score 100, you can exchange 10 ten rods for 1 hundred square at the end. Once he has mastered these you can play score 120 to really embed hundreds places value as well.

Again, once he is really proficient at all the above, you can play Score zero, where you start with the either 120 or 100 and subtract the score on the dice, having to "decompose" the hundred square and/or the tens rod to subtract your number.

Hours of endless fun!

We played a lot of Monopoly from age 6, which is good for maths and gets kids confident adding, subtracting and multiplying in the hundreds.

Am happy to hear someone else likes Ligretto!

Can he already tell the time? An analogue clock with the minutes and 24-hour clock marked out might excite him.

Bit out of touch with what maths kids in the UK do when. Where we are, kids start formal schooling at 6-7, so most of this was done before DS‘d officially learnt any maths.

We also introduced sudokus from just before age 6 - you can get kids‘ ones with fewer squares and work up from there.

Does he have pocket money yet? We gave it to DS once he could count to 100 (to ensure he understood the difference between cents and euros), and he loves counting it up and planning what to spend/ save for. We gave him a wallet and opened a bank account at the same time.

‘Smart Games - Three Little Piggies’ - I think this is a really nice game to play.

https://smarttoysandgames.co.uk/uk/three-little-piggies.html

Yes to lots of these suggestions, but he might also like a set of dice - not just standard 6 sided dice, but a collection with 6-sided, 10- 20- etc sided dice.
Also, a rubik pyramid, and a 2x2 rubiks cube.

My dc loved this- might be a bit young depending on their ability mine was 4-5 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Galt-Toys-1105575-Learn-Maths/dp/B083X4G5KW Bt they recently asked for it to come
out of the shed and have been enjoying it again! There’s a spelling one too

Also loves this - I find it very annoying but for some reason it’s been very popular for a good couple of years! You order food in a cafe and have to find the right ‘money’ to pay

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orchard-Toys-Money-Match-International/dp/B077YCCNHK/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=KDLN99AES9LF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1zyY-9wURaFVkND-I3lS0txOUdTfDxYa9QktS6vPSEc--dd9jV302Ck7m2WgAXi8FlzGUxVnB7-WyEFnA2z1ozzu7yKeQZeBTmJcW7gLD5UJpsYK439nZ_NtJeElsQqfFebK6B3zC2ZWF27pc7VgqguuzW2z6Ap9wl1rE8f1s4JpPA9laoWgJsX6VHr2KOqtQyX0F2zZGem2Smav2gFQjg.vc4FlwaH7cDX4LTT0cqW_pZk9sXmRqUhL0Nb_aI36hs&dib_tag=se&keywords=orchard+toys+money+match+cafe+game&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1728927884&sprefix=orchard+toys+money+mat%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-1

This is my 5 year old's favourite toy: Bigjigs Toys, Multiplication Table Board Game, Wooden Toys, 1-12 Times Tables, Times Table Games For Kids, Number Games, Numbers For Kids, Educational Toys, Montessori Toys, Wooden Tray amzn.eu/d/j7ZqkOt