Math Board Games for Kids: How to Make, Play and Choose Them

Grab a sheet of paper, a pen and one die. Draw a straight row of squares, number them from 1, and play one short race with your child today. That homemade board has the main feature of the games used in research: numbered squares in a straight line. The rest of this guide shows how to make it, how to change the rules as your child grows, and what to check before you buy a boxed game.

Each idea below names the ages it suits. If your child is 2 or 3, our math activities for preschoolers start even smaller. Ages are only a rough guide, so start where your child is comfortable and move on when the game feels easy.

Why do board games help with math?

A race game on numbered squares links three things at once: the number you say, the square you touch and how far along the track you are. Bigger numbers sit further from the start. For a young child, that is a picture of how numbers grow.

Researchers have tested exactly this. In a study by Robert Siegler and Geetha Ramani, preschoolers from low-income families played a simple numbered board game in four sessions of 15 minutes. Afterwards, the gap in number estimation between them and children from better-off families was gone. Children who played a version with colors instead of numbers did not get the same effect.

A second study found that about an hour of play in total helped preschoolers (average age 5.4 years) on four tasks: comparing numbers, placing numbers on a number line, counting and reading numerals. The gains were still there 9 weeks later. Classmates who played the color version did not improve on any of them.

The details of play matter too. In a study by Elida Laski and Robert Siegler, kindergartners played a 0 to 100 board game. Those who counted on from their current square improved their number line estimates, numeral reading and counting on.

Children who counted from 1 on every turn learned considerably less. So the habit of counting on from your square, which we come back to below, is worth teaching.

These studies tested one simple numbered game in short sessions. They don’t show that every board game teaches math, and a game with no numbers on the track isn’t the same thing. If your child moves a piece silently, or a spinner decides everything and nobody says a number, the game is mostly luck and gives little number practice.

What makes a good math board game?

You don’t need a special product. Look for these features, whether you draw the board or buy it:

• A straight, numbered track. Squares in one line, numbered in order, with the number printed on each square. A straight row makes it easy to see that bigger numbers sit further along. On a round track that loops back to the start, that is harder to see, so pick a straight or snaking path where the numbers keep going up.
• One square per count. Your child moves one square for each number they say.
• Numbers said out loud. Your child says each number as the piece moves, so the number and the square go together.
• Short games. About 10 minutes for children aged 3 to 5, a bit longer for older kids if they ask for more. In the first study above, children played four 15-minute sessions, so try several short games across a week or two rather than one long afternoon.
• Some luck. A die lets a younger child beat an older sibling or a parent now and then, which keeps them playing.

How to make a number board at home

A 1 to 10 or 1 to 20 track (ages 3 to 5). Draw a row of 10 squares across a sheet of paper, or two strips taped together for 20. Write the numbers large, one per square, from left to right. Add a “Start” square before 1. A die with dots works better than one with digits at this age, because counting the dots is part of the game.

Coins, buttons or small toys make good pieces.

A 1 to 100 grid (ages 5 to 8). Draw a 10 by 10 grid and number it from 1 at the top left, left to right, row by row. Each row then holds one ten, so 10, 20 and 30 line up in the last column, and 7, 17 and 27 sit in the same column. Ask your child what they notice about each column. Our printable multiplication chart uses the same kind of grid if you’d like a tidy one to copy.

Make it yours (ages 5 and up). Let your child color a few squares as “bonus” squares (move one more) or “slide” squares (move back two). Keep the numbers on every square so the math stays in view.

Rule tweaks for every age

The same board can carry you from counting to times tables. Change one rule at a time.

A few worked examples, so you know what to listen for:

• On square 7 with a roll of 5, your child says “8, 9, 10, 11, 12” and lands on 12.
• On square 38 with a roll of 6, the count crosses a ten: “39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44”. If your child slows down when the count crosses a ten, give them time.
• With two dice, the totals run from 2 to 12. Of the 36 ways two dice can land, 6 make 7, so 7 is the most common total. Older children like discovering this by keeping a tally.
• On the ten-card rule, 47 plus 10 is 57, one row straight down. Going back up a row from 63 gives 53.
• In the times-table version on the 3s, a roll of 6 means 3 times 6, which is 18 squares.

With one die, a 1 to 20 race needs at least 4 rolls and a 1 to 100 race needs at least 17. Two dice bring the 1 to 100 race down to at least 9 rolls.

Try it: the board race

This little game uses the counting on rule. Pick the 1 to 20 track or the 1 to 100 grid, roll the die, then tap the square where your counter will land. If the tap is wrong, Pip gives a hint and the squares light up one by one so your child can count on from where they are. On the 1 to 100 grid you can switch to two dice and add them.

The 1 to 20 track suits about ages 4 to 6 and the 1 to 100 grid about ages 6 to 8.

Board race

Roll the die. Count on from your square to find where you land.

Tap Roll to start the race!

1 to 201 to 100

You are at the start

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Roll

How to play so the math sticks

The talking around the game is where the math happens. These habits help:

• Count on, not from 1 (ages 4 and up). If your child is on 23 and rolls 4, they say “24, 25, 26, 27”.
• Name the start and the finish. “I’m on 12. I rolled 3. Now I’m on 15.” That sentence is the addition fact 12 + 3 = 15.
• Ask, don’t tell. “Where do you think you’ll land?” invites a guess your child can check.
• Take your own turns out loud. Your child hears how you count, so count slowly and touch each square.
• Let mistakes be checked, not corrected. Try “Let’s count it together” instead of “No, that’s wrong”.
• Stop while it’s fun. One finished game beats two games played through tears.

For more ideas that use a die or a deck of cards rather than a board, see our list of free math games for kids. If your child is 5 or 6, the kindergarten math games are sorted by skill.

What to look for in a store-bought game

A boxed game saves you the drawing. Check these things on the box or the maker’s page:

• Is the track numbered? Many classic race games have numbered squares, but some use colors or pictures only. For early number sense, the numbers matter.
• What does a turn ask for? Look at what your child actually does on each turn: count, add, pay with coins, or multiply. That’s the skill the game trains.
• Which age is listed? Go by your child, and pick the easier game if you’re unsure.
• How long is a game? Under 20 minutes is easier to fit into a weeknight.
• Which type is it? As a rough guide from us, not from the makers: race tracks mostly practice counting and suit about ages 3 to 6. Games where you collect or pay with coins practice adding (about 5 to 8). Number bingo practices reading numerals (about 4 to 7). Games where you build sums or products suit about 7 to 10.
• Can you tweak it? Look for a boxed game you can bend: two dice instead of one, a shorter track, or a rule that you say the sum out loud.

For ages 4 to 7, classic Snakes and Ladders (Chutes and Ladders in the US) has a number on every square, so it works well if your child says the numbers out loud. Its rows zigzag, so point to where the next number is. For times tables, a homemade 1 to 100 board with the multiply rule costs nothing and can be played with the multiplication worksheets for extra practice. When your child starts on times tables, our guide on how to teach multiplication gives an order to learn them in.

Where an app fits

Board games come first, because you sit together, talk and touch the squares. An app can add a few minutes of extra practice on a busy day, as long as it has no ads and short rounds.

Our app, Math Learner, is made for ages 3 to 10. Its Numbers world practices counting, matching a number to a group, what comes next and which number is bigger, and the Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division worlds follow on. Each level has 8 questions, and a child needs at least 80 percent to open the next one. The first 15 levels of each world are free, one lesson a day.

Whatever you add, keep the board for the times you can sit and count together.