Making Maths Fun With Free Money Games

Unless you have been living under a rock, you can’t have failed to see that maths, and our maths ability, is currently big news, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introducing methods to make all adults ‘maths literate’. As someone who genuinely loves maths (I was a former maths coordinator in a previous life), I can totally see where he is coming from, and why there are such issues with maths, issues that are not always prevalent in other subjects.

Maths is a cut and dry subject. There are right answers and wrong answers, and these are always the answers – there is no discussion about that in the way that ideas and opinions can be discussed in English, or how events can be interpreted in history, or RE. This definiteness can scare children off, particularly if they can’t see the answer immediately, or work out how to get to it.

As a parent though, there are things you can do if you think your child is suffering with maths and experiencing number blindness. One of these is to make the subject fun by incorporating computer games that actually help with maths into either their homework, or even their fun time. The website Mortgage Calculator, which helps you to work out your repayments for a range of mortgages, also has a dedicated money games section on its webpage that is dedicated to children. These games are perfect for placing money maths in real life situations, but then adding a playful element which means they can be really enjoyed even as your child is learning new skills. There are games for all ages, and they look at all the four rules, as well as adding sections on coding, cryptocurrency and business.

I have been looking at these games and have a couple to share with you.

Cashback

Cashback is a great game that places money in a real life situation. It is all about how much change to give back when someone buys an item and hands over a certain amount of money. What I love about this game are the three levels of difficulty that allow the child to start at a simple level, and then gain confidence and go onto three digit numbers that use both pounds and pence.

The fact that the game is appealingly bright and colourful is another plus point, as is the fact that children can skip questions, keeping the fun and taking away the pressure that can come when you are really stuck on an answer.

Merge Blocks

Even though a lot of the games on the Mortgage Calculator site are concerned with money, other maths subjects are also covered. I loved Merge Blocks, which is very much concerned with shape and space, and spacial awareness.  The player has to place the building shapes on the grid, with the aim of putting like with like so that the grid swallows them up, allowing you to play on. If the grid is completely covered, the game is over, so you really need to look carefully for the patterns. If you reach 1000 points, you are given the opportunity to make space by destroying one of the buildings – but only one, so you need to choose carefully.

The great thing about this game is I’m not even sure the player would realise that this is maths at all. It is great fun, and is brilliant for those who love patterns and challenges.

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