Math Game Monday: Decimal Product Game

This game builds understanding of decimals, and also of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!

Decimal Product Game

Math Concepts: multiplying decimals, decimal place value.

Players: two players or two teams.

Equipment: printed game board, colored markers or a set of matching tokens for each player, two paperclips or other small tokens to mark the factors.

Set-Up

The free 44-page PDF Multiplication & Fraction Printables file features two decks of mathematical model playing cards, plus hundred charts and all the game boards for the Math You Can Play: Multiplication & Fractions book.

How to Play

The first player places a paperclip on any one of the factors at the bottom of the board. The second player places the other paperclip on a factor — the same or different — and then marks the product of those two numbers by coloring the square or placing a token.

On each succeeding turn, a player moves just one paperclip to a new number and then marks the product of those two factors. If both players agree that all possible moves have already been colored in, the player whose turn it is may make a fresh start by moving both paperclips.

Whichever player marks four (or more) squares in a row — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — wins the game. The squares must touch each other at edges or corners, with no gaps. If neither player can make four in a row, then the player who has the most sets of three in a row wins.

History

This variation on The Product Game comes from John Golden’s blog. He writes about his conversation with fifth-grade students:

“We discussed how to get hundredths. I think they knew on some level it was tenths times tenths, but had a bit of the ‘we haven’t been taught this yet’ syndrome. I used the analogy of a dime being a tenth of a dollar, so what’s a tenth of a dime?

“‘A penny!’

“And what part of a dollar is a penny? How many does it take to make one dollar? It is terrific that they are used to seeing one cent written as .01.”