Sep 2021 New: 4 Benefits of Math Games for Kids

If you are having trouble to get your little ones to sit still and learn numbers, trying math games for kids can be helpful.

I'm the author of this article and I'm a qualified abacus teacher, answering questions from around the world online abacus and various questions from online-soroban.com students.

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If there is one subject that students dread the most, it is maths. They simply cannot wrap their head around it. And let’s face the reality. It is not entirely their fault either. The way maths and other subjects are taught at school, not even adults can learn it properly. We need to make it interesting and fun for the children to absorb. The textbook approach simply does not work that well for children. Maths requires some play and imagination. They need to have some fun as they learn along, if we try to make them learn as they have fun along, it is going to backfire every time.

1-1.How Can Math Games Be Made for Positive Kids' Learning Experience?

A lot of teachers simply do not believe in relaxing and chilling down for a while. They make discipline and the syllabus their whole personality and lose all the fun involved in learning. Learning under someone like that is the worst nightmare of any child. They will feel totally confined and claustrophobic. Modern theories and research suggest that we should include some games in the curriculum. Here are some benefits that children can derive from games during the learning process: - Unleashing their creativity: Games help children unleash their creativity. Sure games have rules, but they aren’t exactly the focal point of the activity. Games encourage children to think of competing and to think in competing ways. Textbooks simply do not provide this level of engagement, no matter how interesting it might be. - Breaks the monotony: Having games in between the classes helps the children break the boredom. Even as well-trained adults, we only have a maximum attention span of about twenty-five minutes. Past that point, it becomes difficult to stay focused on the topic. That is why they need to have a break every now and then. Having something to play with is the perfect thing for children - it stirs the natural spirit in them. - Helps build teamwork: Cooperation and teamwork are two very important virtues that are needed in today’s life. They are necessary for the work that we do. The feats that humanity has been able to achieve could not have been achieved without teamwork and cooperation. And games help the children learn these very important values before they go out into the world.

1-2.Making Use of Math Games for Kids

We have already established that games are an essential part of the learning experience. It is very important to have fun while they are learning. But what can be done about abacus classes are there games available online that go well with abacus classes? The answer is simple and positive: yes there are. In fact, there are a wide variety of games that children can play right on the abacus. Let us look at some benefits of abacus games first: - Because the classes are related to the abacus and the games are based on the abacus, the games actually help in reinforcing the concepts and topics learned during the classes. This helps in the actual classes and at the same time, helps the children take a break from constant studies - killing two birds with one stone. - Abacus games are after all math games, so they keep the mathematical fervor of the students up. It is incredibly important for the children to have a good numerical understanding of the world around them and the abacus certainly helps with that but as we know it, they can’t be studying all the time. However these games bring numbers into play, so the children are learning even when they are playing. If the above points sound interesting to you, consider including some abacus games in your abacus classes. As an abacus teacher, it is one of the best things you can do with your students. There are plenty of games available online that you give a spin for fun!

1-3. Benefits of Math Games for Kids

abacus, even though an ancient device has remained incredibly popular across the centuries and its popularity is only increasing as time goes on. Not many ancient devices have remained this popular. The secret to the wide popularity of the abacus lies in the fact that it has multiple benefits that the learners acquire, let's take a look at some of them here: - Fast calculation: abacus naturally improves the calculation speed of the children. Be it the basic math operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, or be it the more advanced algebra that goes on in the head, abacus can help you do it faster. - Understanding the number system: a number system is a great tool that we use every time we write a number and the abacus makes use of the Hindu Arabic number system. However, most people who use it don’t actually understand it. They tend to not understand it properly or lack the understanding at least in some form. Children who are learning the abacus will completely understand the system in its full glory. - Building discipline: This is another big pro of abacus education. The repetitive nature of the abacus inculcates feelings of discipline in the learners no matter their age. And we all know how important discipline is for the benefit of children. - Improved visualization: Children who learn abacus are able to visualize in their heads better. The reason for this is simple. Working with the abacus requires imagining a lot of things in your head and that means they need to develop this part of their brain. Later on in life when they need to study abstract subjects, this developed visualization comes in handy.

Overall  
Games should not be seen as something negative. They should instead be seen as an extension of the learning process. They are important for the children because imagination and a break from monotony are important for the children and if the children do not get these breaks, any teaching given to them is not going to be of any use to them because they will not be able to apply it in real life.