Water Fight - Or How to Get Students to Practice Their Math Facts the Last Few Weeks of School

If I had to pick one thing that almost all of my students need to practice more it would be math facts!  They do not want to take the time to memorize them, so I get sneaky and make it fun - a game really.  I try to have a Kaboom type center available for my students at all times to practice their facts.  I change up the theme throughout the year to keep it fresh and exciting.  My latest game centers around water balloons - because what kid doesn't LOVE water balloons this time of year?

I took some pictures of my students playing the game and I had to share a ton of them because the expressions on their faces are priceless!  You can tell they are having a great time... but did they realize how hard they were working?

They pick a card and answer the fact on it.  If they get it correct, they get to keep the card.  They try to have the most cards by the time the timer goes off  (or I say the game is over).

I try to put the cards into containers that match the theme for extra fun ... I used a pail and shovel for this one.  (We had quite the discussion about the words bucket and pail being synonyms).

Oh no!  The dreaded splash balloon means they lose all of their cards!

If you would like to try this fun game with your class you can find them at the links below:

Addition

Subtraction

Multiplication

Division