Fun Math Activities

Math-Related Online Activites

Gate - http://mathsnacks.com/gate_game.html - Kill monsters using whole numbers and decimals to target them. Build numbers using hundreds, tens, ones, tenths, hundredths.
a collective of math interactives from NCTM - http://illuminations.nctm.org/Search.aspx?view=search&type=ac
Nanoconverter: from inches, feet, miles - http://www.nanozone.org/nanocalculator.htm - In this online math activity, learners can quickly discover the nanometer equivalent for inches, feet and miles and/or millimeters, centimeters and meters. The learner punches in a number on the "keyboard," selects Metric or English units, chooses the specific unit to be converted, and immediately sees how many nanometers equal the value entered into the converter.
Keyboard Cartoons (computer animation) - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/animationsite/popup.php?area=keyboardcartoons&width=680&height=544 - In this online interactive, learners create simple animations. Learners select backgrounds, characters, character placement, and character size. Learners then position their character in up to 5 key frame positions and take a picture of each. The computer fills "in-between" those key frames, creating a smooth animation. This is a simplified version of the sort of computer animation software professional animators use to create animations.
Keyboard Cartoons (computer animation) - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/animationsite/popup.php?area=keyboardcartoons&width=680&height=544 - In this online interactive, learners create simple animations. Learners select backgrounds, characters, character placement, and character size. Learners then position their character in up to 5 key frame positions and take a picture of each. The computer fills "in-between" those key frames, creating a smooth animation. This is a simplified version of the sort of computer animation software professional animators use to create animations.
Lemonade Stand - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/moneyville/activities/lemonade/lemonadestand.htm - In this online lemonade stand game, you decide how to price each cup of lemonade and how many pitchers to make. You play through 7 days and try to make as much profit as possible, subtracting the cost of the lemonade you make from the income you get from sales. There are 3 levels of difficulty: on easy, demand for lemonade is always high. At medium and hard, the weather changes to affect demand, and there are newspaper stories about world events that affect people's attitudes towards lemonade. Teaches about money, budgeting, and profit. After playing this game, learners might set up a real lemonade stand and compare their experience in the game with real life.
Bet the Farm - http://www.cosi.org/visitors/on-line-activities/farm/ - This is an online game about the complexities of farming. Learners will "draw" cards and make decisions about how to take care of their farm. Through this process, they will learn farming is a subtle mix of intelligence, skill and luck. At the end of the game, they will see results in terms of how much money their farm made for the year
Build Animated Models Online - http://www.robotsandus.org/moving/smmconstructor/ - SMMconstructor is an online construction kit for building animated models. Based on the original construction kit called Sodaconstructor, this simulator lets you construct virtual models with a few construction pieces that you drag and snap together. You can also change the movement of your creation by adjusting gravity, friction, and spring stiffness, or just by dragging, pulling and moving the models. The SMMconstructor is a great way to explore simple movement in animation, and to explore concepts such as mass and acceleration. SMMconstructor also can let the learner begin to explore the meaning and implication of simulations - what they are and how humans make things that let us explore and learn about ourselves.
Dragonfly TV Cup (sailing challenge) - http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/games/game_sailing.html - In this online Flash game, learners will captain a sailing challenge, adjusting boat direction and sails, seeking the way to take greatest advantage of varying wind speeds and directions to catch the wind and race a sailboat through a regatta course. The Help and Why buttons provide learners with more information about how to sail a boat plus diagrams and definitions of terms like tracking, wind speed, and luffing. There are four modes of play (practice, red, blue, and gold) that learners can master
Mechanical Madness - http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/games/game_mechanical.html - In this online Flash game, learners test their engineering know-how, moving a collection of mechanical parts onto a board to make complete a system of parts that will move a ball from start to finish. Three levels of play (easy, medium and hard) allow learners to work up to this machine challenge.
Squish & Stretch - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/animationsite/popup.php?area=squashandstretch&width=680&height=544 - This online activity has you order multiple images of a bouncing ball to show how, in animation, an object appears to lengthen as it falls, flatten as it hits the ground, and lengthen as it bounces up. This technique is used to produce the exaggerated look of an animated cartoon, but follows the rules of physics in that the object elongates along its axis of acceleration (stretch) and contracts when it meets resistance (squash). If images are out of place, they can be moved, rather than starting all over.
Build A Flipbook - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/animationsite/popup.php?area=makeaflipbook&width=720&height=510 - This online activity lets learners create a flipbook of a dancing stick figure. Learners choose from a dozen different dance moves, and put them in any sequence they wish, including repeating moves. Learners can preview the animation, and go back and make changes. The activity highlights the fact that each dance move starts and stops in the same position, so it's easy to string the different moves together. Learners can print out your flipbook when you're done!
Reading a Map - http://www.webrangers.us/activities/readingmap/ - In this online interactive, learners investigate how Earth’s three dimensional, physical environment is represented on a two dimensional topographic map. Learners explore the essential parts of a map including legend, scale, and slope indicators. Map reading skills are then tested by learners choosing the best trail to take in different scenarios.
Robot Obstacle Course - http://www.omsi.edu/tech/RobotActivity/index.htm - This is an online game about computer logic. Learners control a robot that navigates a maze of colored shapes, using AND, OR and NOT to decide which ones to jump over. Learners have to notice the pattern of which shapes are traps, then program the robot to avoid all shapes that are Blue AND Circles, or all shapes that are Green OR Triangles. Collect all the keys and move on to the next level with a new challenge...and watch out for those trap doors!
Decode the Barcode - http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/activity/8c_decodebarcode.html - In this online activity, learners crack the special code imprinted on envelopes to help the U.S. Postal Service deliver the mail. Hints within the activity help learners understand how the code relates to ZIP codes. This activity incorporates problem solving and addition skills.
Password Security Agency - http://www.omsi.edu/tech/PasswordActivity/password.html - This is an online game where learners are trained to create a secure password. After entering a password and seeing how long it would take a computer to crack it through brute force guessing, they are given suggestions on how to improve it by adding more unusual characters. Their mission: choose an "Ultra Mega Top Secret" password and gain high-level security clearance in the Password Security Agency. Some background math is given about the assumptions for cracking time, based on the number of characters in the password, and a hacker's computer trying 100,000 passwords a second.
Tic-Tac-Toe - http://www.exploratorium.edu/brain_explorer/tictactoe.html - In this online version of the classic paper and pencil game, learners practice looking ahead to anticipate an opponent's move. Learners compete against the computer, and with a little help from the "How Can I Win At Tic-Tac-Toe?" suggestions, will never again lose a game of tic-tac-toe.
Weave a Pattern - http://www.fossweb.com/modulesK-2/Fabric/activities/weaveapattern.html - This is a online activity about weaving. Learners select a pattern and watch an animation of the selected pattern being woven. This activity introduces learners to weaving, pattern recognition and replication, as well as observing and describing the properties of different textiles.
Get Real (money management) - http://www.omsi.edu/exhibits/moneyville/activities/getreal/getreal.htm - This online game is a money management simulator. You're a young professional, making purchasing choices and budgeting decisions. You choose what your financial goals are, what your job is, where you live and how you commute. Then you go through a year, making various decisions and seeing if you reach your goals. Do you work overtime or hang out with friends? Do you go to the concert or stay home and listen to CDs? Some purchasing isn't up to you—emergency tooth repairs or replacing a broken window can drain your accounts. You always have the choice of paying cash or putting it on the credit card, and then the monthly payments come due.
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Memory Solitaire - http://www.exploratorium.edu/brain_explorer/memory.html - In this online game, learners practice memory recall. They are shown a collage of pictures for two minutes, then have to write down everything they remember and check how they did. After, they learn a memory-improving method of "tell yourself a story" to help train their brain, and try again. Although this activity is designed to be done online and individually, it can easily be adapted to be done using a printout and in a group setting.
Design a Cell Phone - http://www.edheads.org/activities/eng_cell/index.shtml

Collections of Math Activities

Figure This! - http://figurethis.nctm.org/challenges/math_index.htm
Math.com - http://go.math.com/ - The World of Math Online
Middle School.net - http://www.middleschool.net/curlink/math/mthmain.htm - For Teachers, By Teachers
Math Playground - http://www.mathplayground.com/
AAA Math - http://aaamath.com/ - features a comprehensive set of of interactive arithmetic lessons
A+ Math - http://aplusmath.com/ - Interactive math resources for teachers, parents, and students featuring free math worksheets, math games, math flashcards, and more.
King's List of On-line Math Activities - http://www.aquasafecanada.com/content/mirror/kingsmathlist/kingsmathlist.html
Dr. Mike's Math Games for Kids - http://www.dr-mikes-math-games-for-kids.com/seventh-grade-math-games.html

Math Games

SpeedMath Deluxe - http://education.jlab.org/smdeluxe/ - Use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to solve an equation as quickly as possible!
Speed Math - Addition and Subtraction - http://education.jlab.org/smadd/
SpeedMath - Multiplication and Division - http://education.jlab.org/smmult/
SpeedMath - Inequalities - http://education.jlab.org/sminequality/ - How fast can you determine if one expression is greater than, less than, or equal to another?
Mystery Math - http://education.jlab.org/mysterymath/ - A math 'magic' trick that will astound your friends!
The Nim Number Game - http://education.jlab.org/nim/ - Can you beat your friend, or the computer, in this game of logic?
Place Value Game - http://education.jlab.org/placevalue/ - Use logic, strategy and a little luck to create the largest number that you can!
Looking for the Top Quark - http://education.jlab.org/topquarkgame/ - Use coordinates to find your opponent's hidden quarks before they find yours!

At Home Math-Related Activities

Tangrams - http://www.cosi.org/visitors/on-line-activities/tangrams/ -In this activity about tangrams, learners print and cut out their own tangram shapes and solve puzzles by fitting these geometric pieces together in a variety of ways. This is an excellent activity for all ages, and helps learners practice looking at things in a different way.
The Shadow Knows I - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/ll_shadow.htm - In this activity, learners will measure the length of their shadow from the sun and compare it three to four months later. This process will help learners investigate Earth's rotation and discover the change in seasons by the elevation of the sun. This resource includes an explanation of why learners will observe changes in their shadow's length as well as a description of Eratosthenes' first known measurement of the circumference of the earth. Learners can measure the circumference of the earth using shadows in the related activity "The Shadow Knows II." This resource also includes winter and summer safety tips.
The Shadow Knows II - http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/ll_shadow2.htm - In this activity, learners will measure the length of a shadow and use the distance from the equator to calculate the circumference of the earth. Note: This experiment can only be done at solar noon twice a year; at the spring and autumnal equinox. These are the two times the sun is directly over the equator. You can do this experiment one or two days before or after the equinox to work around cloudy days. This resource includes a corollary story related to Christopher Columbus and his journey to India as well as winter and summer safety tips