Mental Maths Activities –
ideas from www.teachingideas.co.uk
 D’OH!!
I find it best played 2v2 to encourage co-operation and joint decision making. The players
have one standard die and they roll to decide who goes first. Players then roll the dice as
many times as they like and keep a running total BUT if they throw a number 1 they lose
their current score and record zero (which can be easily turned in to a Homer’s face). This
is called getting a D’OH!. Players can hold their current score by passing on the die to their
opponents. An advanced version can be played with two dice and the two dice are then
multiplied.
This is a great activity for quick addition and also introduces children to probability i.e.
"When is it a good time to hold your score and pass the dice on?"
Players can have 5 turns each or continue for a certain duration.
 Who wants to be a Mathematician?
The class are told of the game based on the ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ TV
programme.
All the children sit at their tables and the teacher selects a child to play the game by
having a ‘fastest brain first’ Maths question. The child who gives the correct answer
quickest comes to the front of the class to play.
When in the hot seat, the child has to answer three (or more) questions based on the
learning objectives. These questions need to be answered as quickly as possible and only the
first answer can be accepted. At the same time the rest of the class are told to think of
the answer as well as, if the contestant gets it wrong you will be picking another player who
has the right answer to sit in the hot seat.
Whilst in the chair the contestant gets two ‘lifelines’ to help him/her. These are ‘ask the
audience’ in which the majority of right answers from the rest of the class could influence
the answer, or ‘phone a friend’ where the contestant is allowed to ask one of his/her class
friends to help them.
This activity is a great oral/mental starter but could be used as part of the main teaching
activity.
 Jeopardy!
Pass out cards with numbers and colours on them to students. There are two teams, red and
green. Call a number, and the two students with that number go up to the board. Ask a
mathematical question, and have the students answer it. Do their 'working out' on the
board.
When the first student's done, have them ring a bell. The first student to ring the bell,
check their work. If they get it wrong, go to the other student, but if they get it right, give
them 1 point.
At the end of the game, tally up all the points, and the team with the most points wins.
 What’s my number?
Write the numbers from 1 to 20 up on the board and think of a number. The children have
to guess what your number is by adding two numbers together or taking two numbers away.
The children love it and the numbers also act as a number line.
Differentiation:
- Children who operate at an lower level can contribute through asking other relevant
questions, e.g. is it less than / more than etc.
- For older / more able children, you can make the number line bigger (up to 30, 40 etc.)
 The Price is right!
The teacher chooses 2 children to stand in front of the board facing the class. The teacher
writes a number betwen 1-100 on the board (both children should not be able to see it).
Then they take turns in guessing the number, after each guess the class must respond
either 'higher' or 'lower'. The game continues until one person guesses the correct number.
NOTE: Another way you could play this game is to get the two children who are standing at
the front of the class to ask the rest of the class questions for them to be able to guess
the number. For instance they could ask, is the number higher then 30? is it a odd number?
is it between 20 - 50? is it a multiple of 10? etc. Children should only answer yes or no to
the questions.
 Twister Maths
Make a mat from 20 A4 pages(or foam number squares or old Twister Game mats) joined
together with the numbers 1-20 clearly written on them (I placed them in 4 rows of 5).
The children are then told instructions such as " Put your left foot on the answer of 3 add
5" and so on just like the game Twister!
Repeat until the child has 2 feet and hands on the numbers. I got the rest of the class to do
"Thumbs up and thumbs down" if the child's answers were correct (Also helps children learn
their right from their left!).
 Number of the Week / Day
I use this mental maths activity with children aged 7 - 11. Choose a number of the week,
which should be written on the board and can be referred to during numeracy lessons during
the week. (The number should be suitable for the age and ability of the children).
Laminate the task/operation cards (i.e Read the number, divide/multiply by ten, round to
the nearest ten, reverse the number, write the number in words, half it, double it, how many
hundreds / tens/ units?, find a quarter etc)
In turn children select a card. Whatever it says the children have to work out the answer.
For example if the card says - divide by 4, the children all divide the number of the week by
4. If you have individual whiteboards, all of the children can take part at the same time.
Alternatively the individual who picked the card can work out the answer.
 Ball / Beanbag in the box
Set up 2 teams at their desks. At the front of the class put a box and mark a line about 2-3
metres away. Choose a member of team A to stand on the line. The child must throw a ball
/beanbag into the box. Place an “easy” and a “hard” set of question cards face down on the
table.
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If the child gets it in, his/her team chooses an 'easy' question. If they get it right
they win a point for their team.
BUT, if they missed the box, the other team choose a 'hard' question. If they get it
right they win the point.
Continue taking turns until everybody had had a chance to throw.
Mental Maths Activities – using resources
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Bingo Boards
Target Boards
Number Fans
Loop Games
Counting Stick
Counting Games ( see Ready, Set, Go Maths counting chapter)
Calculator Games.