Addition and Subtraction Fact Fluency Games

Below you’ll find some games to play at home to help your student develop their fluency with addition and subtraction facts. Here are some tips to get the most out of these games:

• These tasks are mostly arranged in the order your student should work on them.
• Ask your student’s teacher about the best place to begin.
• Most of these activities were written for teachers working with a group of students. These instructions should help you understand how to introduce the activity and guide your child’s thinking when playing at home. You can play all of these games one-on-one with your student.

Notes on materials:

• Required game cards, recording sheets, spinners, and other printed materials are included with each game and can be printed. If you do not have access to a printer, you may create something similar yourself.
• You may use regular playing cards for any number cards or dice. If you do not have enough of a particular card, put masking tape on the front of the card and write the desired number. You may use virtual dice as well.
• When the activity calls for unifix cubes, you should be able to replace with coins or other small objects.
• When the game calls for writing equations, feel free to use paper and pencil if you don’t have a dry-erase board.

Games from Bridges Intervention by the Math Learning Center and Math Fact Fluency by Bay-Williams and Kling.

Collect Five Dots (combinations adding to 5)
Win Five (Dot Cards) (combinations adding to 5)
Win Five (5-Frames) (combinations adding to 5)
Win Five (Equations) (combinations adding to 5)
Pair It Up, Fives (combinations adding to 5)

Racing Bears (game board) (adding and subtracting 0, 1, 2 within 10)
Spin & Add (adding 1, 2, 3 to numbers up to 10)
Spin & Subtract (subtracting 1, 2, and 3 from numbers up to 10)
Make the Total (adding within 10)

Win Ten (combinations adding to 10)
Win Ten with Dots & Numerals (combinations adding to 10)
Win Ten with Equations (combinations adding to 10)
Pair It Up, Tens (combinations adding to 10)
Sleeping Bears (combinations adding to 10)
Go Fish for Tens (combinations adding to 10)

Add 10 Top Draw (beginning of “Make 10” strategy)
Think 10 (make 10)
Add 9 Top Draw (make 10)
Think 10 with Plus 8 and Plus 7 (make 10)
Spin & Add Top Draw (make 10)

Subtraction Top Draw (subtraction within 10)
Diffy Dozen (subtraction within 10)
Target Difference (subtraction within 10)
Subtraction Stacks (subtraction within 10)
Back to 10 or Take Away 10 (beginning of “Make 10” strategy for subtraction)

First to 20 (recording sheet) (addition and subtraction within 20)
Around the House (addition and subtraction within 20)
Salute (addition and subtraction within 20)