Math
Math games for kids, sorted by the skill they practice
Updated
This guide sorts the math games on bored.kids by skill rather than by grade. Counting: Numberblocks World and Teach Your Monster Number Skills. Addition and subtraction: MathTango and Monster Math. Times tables: Timestables.com. Fractions: the visual tools in Polypad. Harder puzzles: Beast Academy.
Plenty of math apps describe themselves as covering “everything for grades K to 5”. A child, though, is usually working on one thing at a time, whether that’s counting past twenty or the seven times table. The table below matches each skill to the games on this site that focus on it.
| Skill | Ages the games list | Games to look at |
|---|---|---|
| Counting and number sense | 3–6 | Numberblocks World, Teach Your Monster Number Skills, Moose Math |
| Adding and subtracting | 5–8 | MathTango, Monster Math |
| Times tables | 7–10 | Timestables.com, Multiplication Games Kahoot!, Arcademics |
| Fractions | 8–11 | Polypad, The Math Learning Center apps |
| Problem solving and puzzles | 6 and up | Beast Academy, NRICH, DragonBox Algebra |
Counting and early number sense
Early counting games tend to work on the idea that “five” means five things, however they are arranged. Numberblocks World brings the TV characters into leveled games, songs and episodes, with counting in 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s and short quizzes along the way. Its core range is listed as ages 4 to 6.
Teach Your Monster Number Skills is laid out in stages: quantities up to five, number bonds to ten, then place value up to one hundred. A targeted practice mode lets a grown-up pick a skill and a number range. Moose Math is aimed at ages 3 to 7, with counting ingredients into smoothies, dot matching and number bingo.
Adding and subtracting
MathTango mixes all four operations with monster collecting and world building, and its publisher pitches it at roughly kindergarten to grade 5. Monster Math has untimed missions for grades 1 to 3 and shows sums with visual strategies. A child who tenses up when a timer is running might take to the untimed format; one who thrives on speed may want something with a clock.
Times tables
Timestables.com sticks to a single topic: choose a table from 1 to 12, practice it, then try a speed test or a themed game such as Multiplication Mage. Multiplication Games Kahoot! bundles more than 20 mini-games with an adaptive progression on iPhone and iPad.
Arcademics leans on arcade-style races, including multiplayer games, so it could appeal to children who like a bit of competition and less to those who prefer working quietly. Its pages look to be ad-supported.
Fractions
Polypad is a browser workspace of fraction bars, number cubes, dice and other virtual pieces that children can drag around. The Math Learning Center apps offer fraction bars and circles, a geoboard, base-ten pieces and a number line; one prompt to try is “three ways to show one half”. For practice questions, Khan Academy Math has an arithmetic course with units on fractions and decimals.
For kids who want harder problems
Some children ask for harder problems rather than more of the same. Beast Academy Online presents elementary math through comic-style guides with monster characters and puzzles, and starts with a placement test. NRICH, from the University of Cambridge, publishes investigations that ask children to find patterns and explain their reasoning, with early-years and primary collections. Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox introduces equation solving through 200 puzzles; its publisher says children as young as five can begin.
Big game worlds
For a child drawn in by a storyline, Prodigy Math sets questions for grades 1 to 8 inside a fantasy adventure with quests, battles and pets to collect. A child who wants to get straight to the numbers might prefer one of the single-skill games above. For math away from the screen, see learning activities that move off the screen.