Hundreds charts are a great way to help students with mental math. However, just doing a worksheet with hundreds charts can seem a lot like homework that isn’t as much fun to do. That’s why I like to use a hundreds chart game. I have three great games that are easy to use in your classroom in a variety of ways!
Why Teach Hundreds Charts?
Mental math is one of the most valuable tools students can have. One way to do this is to have a great understanding of number sense and of course the hundreds chart. Having strong mental math skills can help students complete multi step problems with ease. I have a specific strategy I like to use when teaching with a hundreds chart. You can learn more about my process by checking out this blog post!
Play Wonderful One’s Place
This game is simple to play and requires very few pieces. All you need to play this hundred chart game is two dice and one hundreds chart. The goal is to have students get numbers 1 to 10. Therefore, if a student roles a 4 and 3, that’s a 7. When students roll a number, they color the column that has the 7 in the one’s place. If they roll an eleven or twelve, they have to roll again.
You can make this hundred chart game more interesting by having them place the hundreds chart face down on their desk and write their names on the back. Then, when you say “go!” They flip over the chart and start to roll. First person to fill their chart wins!
Race with a Hundreds Chart Game
This game, Race to 100 (or Race to 120) is done with a partner. You have two students, one hundreds chart, two bread tags, and one die. Students start at the number one. Then, they take turns rolling the dice working to pass 100.
With this hundreds chart game, students take turns rolling the die. Then, they move their bread tag the correct number of spaces. This back and forth play keeps going until one student passes 100 or 120.
While this game is great to play with partners, you can also have students play this game on their own. When you play the Individual Race to 100, each student rolls their own dice and colors that number of spaces. For example, if you roll a three, color three numbers. Then if they roll a four, they would color in 4, 5, 6, and 7. Students keep calling until they have colored all the numbers to 100.
Go Off the Chart!
To start this game, you’ll need to special die. I make my special dice by going to the dollar store and buying the colored cubes they have in the craft section. Then, using a sharpie, I write +10 on 2 sides and -10 on 2 sides. On the remaining sides I write +1 and -1.
I put the students into pairs and they each start at the number 50 on the hundreds chart or number 60 on the 120 chart. Students roll the dice alternating turns. Then they go up or down the chart. The first person off the chart–either lower than 1 or higher than 100–wins.
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Utilize Math Junk with a Hundreds Chart Game
I use bread tags for pieces most of the time. However, using any and all math junk is perfectly acceptable. Allowing students to pick their piece can help with buy-in as well. If your students take forever to choose, just give them two or three options so you can get started with the hundred chart games!
Teaching mental math is such an important part of math! Using hundreds chart games makes teaching math all that much more fun! All of these games can be played individually or in pairs which means they are great for centers, morning work, and for fast finishers.