Learning math is an essential part of life, and its important to start off your child’s educational journey so it doesn’t feel like a chore. So how can we help our child learn the basics of math early? One fabulous way is through play: playing educational maths board games.
Introduce Simple Math Concepts through Play
Now is the perfect time to introduce some early math concepts in a playful way. Don’t worry about formal lessons—young children learn best through active exploration and play.
- Simple Addition and Subtraction: Use everyday situations (e.g., “You have two cookies, and I’ll give you one more. How many cookies do you have now?”) to introduce basic addition and subtraction.
- Patterns and Sequences: Create simple patterns with colored blocks or toys (e.g., red-blue-red-blue) and ask your child to continue the pattern. This builds an early understanding of sequences and logic. The board game Sequence for kids helps with patterns.
- Number Recognition: Use flashcards, chalk, or a dry erase board to practice number writing and recognition. You can make this into a fun activity by turning it into a “number scavenger hunt” where your child has to find and point to numbers around the house.
- Be Positive and Patient. Children at this age are naturally curious, and math can be a fun and exciting challenge. Approach math with a positive attitude—celebrate the small wins and be patient when they struggle. Emphasize effort over results and remind them that mistakes are part of learning.
Sing Songs and Rhymes with Numbers
Music and rhymes are excellent tools for helping young children memorize numbers and math concepts. Many children’s songs incorporate counting, shapes, and simple math operations in a fun, rhythmic way. Choose a themed maths board game around their favourite TV show or movie and if they have a favourite song or actions, incorporate that into the game you are playing.
- Counting Songs: Songs like “Five Little Ducks” or “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” help children practice counting forward and backward in a catchy way.
- Shape Songs: Songs like “This Old Man” or “The Shape Song” reinforce basic shape recognition and spatial awareness.
- Rhymes with Numbers: Recite number rhymes, or make up your own number-based rhymes to engage your child. Repetition helps reinforce math concepts.
Play Maths Board Games
Maths board games are a fantastic way to introduce math concepts while keeping your child engaged. Whether you are using board games, card games, or simple homemade games, math doesn’t have to feel like work—it can be fun!
- Counting Games: Simple maths board games that involve dice or moving pieces along a path are perfect for reinforcing counting skills. Games like Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land involve counting spaces, and they can help children practice their number recognition and sequence skills.
- Shape Recognition: Use shape-based games like puzzles or shape-matching games to help your child recognize geometric shapes. You can also introduce “shape hunts,” where they search for objects in the house that match certain shapes.
- Board Games: Games like Connect Four or Uno can help children with pattern recognition, matching, and even basic math operations like addition and subtraction.
- Card Games: Simple card games like Go Fish or Memory can be used to help your child recognize numbers and develop an understanding of pairs, matching, and number values.
These educational math board games offer a fantastic way to introduce young children to mathematical concepts in a fun and interactive manner. By playing board games, children develop essential math skills like counting, number recognition, addition, subtraction, and spatial reasoning. A great way to help children be school-ready.
- 15-20 mins
- Age Rating 5+
- Number of Players 2-4
Sum Swamp is a delightful game that introduces simple addition and subtractions. Players roll two dice and one operation die (either addition or subtraction).
Next, either add or subtract the numbers together and move your frog that amount of space. Along the way, you will encounter funny swamp creatures.
Another great Learning Resource game developed as an educational maths board games for preschoolers. This game helps children visualize addition and develop number sense.
- 10-15 mins
- 3+
- 2-4 players
This is a fabulous cooperative board game. So there isn’t a winner as you both work together to help Mother Hen collect her chicks and bring them back to the coop.
You start by spinning the spinner and then move. You count the number of spaces, and collect that number of chicks. Players take turns, but you must work together. Collect all the chicks, and everyone wins. Great educational maths board game for kindergarten children if they are sensitive or don’t want a game where you have one winner.
- 15-20 mins
- 3+
- 2-4 players
Race to Pattern Palace helps children explore and create patterns as you guide Numberblocks One to Four across bridges, around twists, and through turns on the game board, using colored tiles to replicate the patterns shown on the cards.
Dive into two levels of gameplay on this number-filled adventure, designed to enhance pattern and color recognition, counting, and more. This educational math game for preschoolers includes a beginner card deck and a challenge deck for more advanced play.
- 15-20 mins
- 3+
- 2-4 players
Candy Land is a classic game that introduces children to basic counting and color recognition. This math learning game was designed by Eleanor Abbott and first published in 1949 and has been a household hit since.
Players draw cards that instruct them to move forward based on the color shown. As they navigate the whimsical path, they learn to follow directions and count the spaces they move.
This charming take on the classic Candy Land board game includes gingerbread men as game pieces, colorful cards, and delightful illustrations that kids adore. With fun destinations like Cookie Commons and the towering Chocolate Mountain, players pick their cards, move their pieces, and let their imaginations run wild as they race toward the castle to win.
Candyland has been made into different version to appeal to a wider audience. Check out which type might suit your family best below.
- 10-15 mins
- 3+
- 2-4 players
Hi Ho! Cherry-O CoComelon is a charming game that teaches children about counting, turn-taking, and basic probability. This is a hugely popular learning maths board game for preschoolers.
You pick your choice of player; JJ, Cody, and Cece. Players spin the spinner and collect the pretend apples from their characters tree. The first player to get all 10 apples in their basket and shout, “CoComelon!” wins the game.
Kids can have so much fun picking pretend apples to fill their baskets, they don’t even realize they’re practicing counting, addition, and subtraction. This educational math game also helps with color matching, as the colour of each character has a matching apple tree to pick from.
There are different version of this board game, and you can buy the standard Hi Ho Cheery O game if your not a fan of CoComelon.
Research - Benefit of Board Games on Math Skills
Research titled “The Effects of Board Games on Math Skills in Children” via (Taylor and Francis online) shows promising results for using board games to improve math in young kids. According to the overview:
In about 52% of studied tasks, children showed significant improvement when comparing their skills before and after participating in board game interventions.
When comparing children who used board games (intervention groups) with those who did not, 32% of the studies found clear, statistically meaningful advantages in math skills for the group that used board games.
These benefits were especially noticeable in children aged roughly 45.6 to 100.6 months (that’s about 3.8 to 8.4 years old), showing that board games can help achieve measurable math skill gains in early childhood.
Because this is a paid article, full access requires a subscription, but the summaries and press releases reliably show these key results.
Keep Exploring and Learning
There are plenty of options for board games for preschoolers that build connection, learning, and patience. Head over to our age group page 3-5 years to explore.
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