Fraction Activities and Games for Elementary Math

Fraction activities and games can really help your child. It's well known that many of the problems with elementary math start when your child is faced with something which can seem beyond them.

Whole numbers, simple fractions like a half and a quarter - that's easy for most children. But can you remember the awful feeling of sheer panic when you came up against a half plus two fifths? For me, it was the start of the end as far as math was concerned.

Many elementary schools start teaching fraction problems far too young.

Fraction activities and games are a really great way to get your child familiar with a subject which can seem very abstract. In fact, I'm going to make a suggestion based on personal experience:

Leave teaching fractions as long as you can.

You will do no harm if your child doesn't start to tackle complicated fraction problems until High School. If they are badly taught in elementary school, your child could end up not only hating fractions but falling out with the whole idea of math.

Far better if your child has lots of fun playing fraction games and activities. That way they become familiar with the concepts and don't end up crying over their homework.

Elementary schools can be a difficult place to be if your child does have problems in class; teachers often don't have time to stop and help. Gareth Lewis, an experienced Math teacher, has this to say:

"Sometimes maths teachers are little more than helpless witnesses watching one after another of a class...become confused and discouraged by their experience in a maths lesson." (Gareth Lewis, One-to-One.)

Your help and encouragement at home can make all the difference. Fraction activities and games together can take the fear away. You can also help improve all your child's elementary math abilities simply by spending time together doing homeschool Fun Math Activities.

Fraction Games

I think you can tell from the photo that the whole idea with elementary fraction activities and games are to keep it enjoyable! There's nothing nicer than finding a favorite thing your child likes playing games with and then making a fraction out of it. These shells are the ones I used to make shapes out of on my grandma's carpet.

• Elementary math activities and games to teach fraction problems often revolve around pizzas. That's not surprising; pizzas were almost invented just to be sliced up in different amounts!

  The advantage you have is to add to the fraction games by making your own. There can be few nicer ways of teaching homeschool fraction problems than by ending up eating the results!

• Chocolate or candy bars are easy to use for simple fraction games. You can halve, quarter and divide until the one sixteenth that's left becomes the treat. Orange segments are a homeschool healthy alternative.

Elementary Math Activities:

Teach Fractions using Time

A good way to show your child how a fraction works is by using a watch. The clock face was designed precisely because it uses fractions of a circle to represent time.

If you show your child an analogue watch, your homeschool fraction games can start by working out 'quarter past', 'half past', etc. until you get all the way to a sixtieth and measure a minute.

Go online for fraction games

There are a number of websites covering elementary math activities. They're variable - some are quite fun, but don't teach very much, and some are boring. I've also discovered that what one child likes, another finds unappealing.

Taste is personal.

Nonetheless, you could do worse than to try this website we've used for homeschool Fraction Games.

My overall advice is that whatever fraction activities you choose, you need to be guided by your child. Some children have no problems, others really struggle.

"Young children often have problems with fractions and..that puts some people off mathematics for life." (Gareth Lewis, Unqualified Education.)

Timing is everything. If you can have fun with fractions that's half the battle because if you take the pressure off, your child will get there in the end.

You'll see that our approach is to make homeschooling math fun and the more time you can spend with your child doing activities together the better.

• You can make shapes, play triominoes and find out the value of Pi with these homeschool Geometry Activities.

• You can get lots of ideas for homeschool Elementary Math Activities and games here. In fact, you'll need to do some fraction activities if you want to make up the food for the animals when you join us as a zoo vet!
• You'll find more suggestions for fraction activities on the websites we suggest in our homeschool Online Math Activities.
• You can also see our homeschool math curriculum guide, with tips on how to avoid expensive mistakes. Helping others choose the right curriculum isn't easy, so click here to give your Homeschool Math Curriculum Review.

Fraction activities and games are the way to stop your child being put off math and, with your help, make fractions fun.

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