After working hard all school year, it is vital for students to do some math for practice over the summer, so they don’t experience the “summer slide.” As the school year comes to a close, we begin to think about all the fun we will have during the summer, but we should also consider ways to keep those brains working during the break. It doesn’t have to be hours of math practice, just something to keep their skills sharp.
Providing opportunities to do math puzzles daily is one way to help students keep those brains from going to mush! So get this Freebie of 71 Math Number Puzzles delivered to your inbox to use with your students.
Students who feel successful in math class are happier and more engaged in learning. Check out The Bonus Guide for Creating a Growth Mindset Classroom and Students Who Love Math for ideas, lessons, and mindset surveys for students to use in your classroom to cultivate a positive classroom community in mathematics. You can also sign up for other freebies from me Here at Easternshoremathteacher.com.
Every fall, some students come back, and we realize they haven’t done anything over the summer. Instead of starting the current grade-level standards, we need to spend weeks reviewing previous years’ standards. This could be prevented if we could encourage kids to spend just a few minutes a day reading, writing, or doing math. As a parent and teacher, I know the kids don’t want to sit down and do work. So I came up with some fun activities for kids to practice math.
Summer Themed Math Activities
If you aren’t on summer break yet and are trying to keep students engaged in learning, try using some fun summer-themed math activities. These summer-themed activities are ready to use as soon as you download them. There are digital and print options.
Summer Math Activities Preschool
Fun Summer Math Games Kindergarten
Top Summer Math Activities for 1st Grade
Digital Summer Math Activities for 2nd Grade
- Addition and Subtraction Math Facts
- Addition and Subtraction Word Problems within 100
- Subtraction Word Problems
The Best Summer Math Activities for 3rd Grade
Great Summer Math for Practice Activities
Are you wondering what skills your students should practice? You don’t need to be an expert in grade-level standards to help your child. Just think of some skills you have seen your child work on during the school year and try to infuse some of those skills.
For example, practice counting, identifying numbers, counting objects, and writing numbers for the younger students. Students in 1st and 2nd Grade can practice their addition and subtraction facts to 20. In 3rd and 4th grade, students can practice their multiplication and division facts. Fifth-grade students should build fluency with multi-digit multiplication and division and have a solid foundation with fractions.
Fact fluency and problem-solving are essential skills in all grade levels and can easily be connected to real-world situations.
Summer Math Activities for Elementary Students
Here are some simple activities to keep students thinking over the summer break.
Summer Math Games
A great way to have fun and have kids think is by playing games. These could be fact-practice games or strategy games. There are plenty of online or digital games. In addition, there are plenty of games with dominoes, dice, or cards.
Providing opportunities to do math puzzles daily is one way to help students keep their brains from going to mush! So get this Freebie of 71 Math Number Puzzles delivered to your inbox to use with your students.
Here Are Some of My Favorite Games:
Digital Summer Math
Another easy idea is to have kids complete a few digital slides each week. This allows them to practice some math skills in addition to practicing using a computer.
Here Are Some of My Favorite Digital Resources:
- Facts of 10 Freebie
- Doubles Facts Freebie
- Addition Subtraction Word Problems
- Math Facts to 10
- Addition and Subtraction Math Facts
- Addition and Subtraction Word Problems within 100
- Subtraction Word Problems
- Word Problems for Multiplication and Division
Fun Summer Math Activities Outside
Taking the learning outside can make it fun and educational at the same time. This doesn’t always have to be a planned activity. It could be as easy as asking some questions or calculating how many snacks you need to purchase for a party.
Here are Some of My Favorite Outside Activities:
- Using Chalk to solve problems.
- Use bean bags, beach balls, or water balloons to solve problems. For example, toss the bean bag into the hula hoop with the sum of 40.
- Determine the Perimeter or Area of a Garden
- Calculate how many snacks you need for a party. How much will it cost?
- Count how many toys you can find in the pool.
- Visit a Strawberry Patch. Create some story problems.
Summer Math Practice to Build Fact Fluency
I always feel that fact fluency is one of the most essential skills to work on over the summer. The new grade-level standards are more difficult if students do not retain their facts. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division can be practiced throughout the day.
Here are Some of My Favorite Ways to Practice:
- Ask computation questions throughout the day. For example, if you have 3 cookies and I give you 3 more, how many total cookies do you now have?
- Add or Multiply the numbers on the dice or cards
- Sort the dominoes by the sum or product.
- Facts of 10 Freebie
- Doubles Facts Freebie
Summer Themed Math Activities & Literature
Students also need to listen to stories or read stories throughout the summer. By asking some math questions while reading or after reading a book, you are connecting math to the real world. This shows students the importance of math and how math is all around us.
Here are Some of My Favorite Activities to Do With Literature:
- Count how many animals you see on the page.
- If 3 more ducks came to visit, how many ducks would there be?
- Make a recipe connected to a book and practice some fractions.
- Solve some elapsed time problems based on a book.
Summer Math Enrichment
Math practice can also be about summer math enrichment. The more you ask questions, show the connection to our real life, and make it meaningful, the more students will value the importance of learning math.
Summer Math Practice
We all need a break in the summer from the hustle of the school year, but incorporating some activities to keep the brain sharp is vital. Keep learning fun and connected to the real world so kids keep a positive mindset about learning.
Providing opportunities to do math puzzles daily is one way to help students keep their brains from going to mush! So get this Freebie of 71 Math Number Puzzles delivered to your inbox to use with your students. You can also sign up to receive other freebies from me Here at Easternshoremathteacher.com.
Check out The Free Ultimate Guide for Creating a Growth Mindset Classroom and Students Who Love Math for ideas, lessons, and mindset surveys to use in your classroom. You can also sign up to receive other freebies from me Here at Easternshoremathteacher.com.
You don’t need to spend hours planning activities for students to do over the summer. When summer starts, download a few digital resources to use, play some games, and ask some questions, and you are all set. What are some of your favorite summer math for practice activities?
