The Make a Splash 120 chart game from Learning Resources is one of my and my students’ favorites for practicing kindergarten-2nd grade math standards. (I have seen older elementary students enjoy it also.)
The concept is simple- it’s a giant 120 chart made from flexible plastic. What makes it more fun than a regular 120 chart is its size (you spread it out on the floor) and especially the jumbo inflatable dice that the kids LOVE to roll. (Note: I have had kids pop them twice and heard that from other teachers too. Be sure you don’t overinflate them. Also talk to kids about rolling the dice and not kicking them or serving them like a volleyball!)
The game comes with several activity suggestions. Basically anything you would do with a paper 120 chart you can do with this version. I mostly play the Roll and Race to 120 game with kids. Roll the blue dice (digits 0-9) and add the two numbers together (or use them to create a two digit number) and move along the board. Then roll the orange die (+10, -10, +1, -1) Included t-shaped frames help teach the important concepts of -1, +1, -10, +10.) The kids learn very quickly that they can add or subtract ten by moving up or down a row.
The game also comes with 64 square frames and 64 solid squares to cover numbers. I have used these to have students show patterns such as odd/even numbers, skip counting/multiples, etc. (It is such a lightbulb moment when students recognize for themselves that skip counting is the same as multiplication.) The squares are also useful for marking numbers to work on subtraction as difference, finding missing addend, and more.
I also had some students make up a game combining this one (with its under the sea design) and Melissa and Doug’s Catch and Count Fish
This game is fantastic for number recognition, adding and subtracting, and teaching place value patterns. (see here for my full post on Teaching Place Value: Tens and Ones)
