Best maths board games for children
City of Zombies, £34.99
Battle zombies using your brains and they won't get to eat yours! Aimed ages 6+, this multi-player escape game is played cooperatively (with mixed maths abilities, so a Y3 sibling and Y6 sibling can take part at the same time) and can be adapted to help kids practise different skills, from times tables to calculating square roots. The aim of the game is to roll dice to try to stop the zombies reaching the players' safe house... so will you survive?
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Magic Maths, £12
A KS1 maths game with some "magic" technology which lets children rub and reveal correct answers. Players (aged 5-7) take turns to solve the addition, subtraction and multiplication calculations and fill their boards with yucky spell ingredients (worm-infested cupcakes and brains and bogies, oh my!). A broad range of simple and challenging sums is included for spell-binding gameplay.
Prime Climb, £34.99
An investment purchase which will be enjoyed by the whole family, from 10 year olds to 101 year olds, Prime Climb is a colourful mathematical board game designed for 2 to 4 players. Boost mental maths skills and deepen numerical understanding by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing your way to the center of the board, picking up Prime cards and bumping your opponents back to the start as you go. The first player get both their pawns to 101 wins the game!
Money Bags, £16.99
Build your child's confidence with British money with this award-winning board game from Learning Resources. Players roll the dice and land on different spaces where they have to make up values using (very realistic!) coins. When a player passes the finish line, all players count their money and the wealthiest wins! A great way to practise handling different amounts and work on coin recognition for children aged 7 and over.
Number Rumbler, £7.99
Playing Number Rumbler is a great way to develop your child's number sense, their understanding of how numbers relate to each other. From sorting the cards into number "families" to matching pairs, memory games and even your own games (as devised by your child for your family), this little pack of cards offers loads of possibilities and is a great parental handbag accessory for "I'm bored" moments when you're out and about.
Numbugz, £12.99
Seven games in one travel bag, Numbugz is a great value-for-money option for your holiday suitcase. Try the challenging numbers game Colonyz (a sort of Scrabble with numbers), think ahead with the Strategy game Legionz, test your memory and concentration with Memorize and Pairz, or enjoy quick fun games of 25z, SumBugz and Sequenz. Endorsed by National Numeracy, we love the different-level game options so the whole family can play together.
Sum Fun, £16.99
A numerical version of Scrabble which can be played by people of different ages and mathematical abilities, all at the same time (so there's no tedious waiting for your turn!). Using number and symbol tiles, each player must make connecting and intersecting SUMs; the first person to use all their tiles to make valid SUMs is the winner. The canvas case makes the game easy to store and travel with.
What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?, £10.89
A time-telling board game for children aged 5 to 9 years which develops both analogue and digital clock-reading skills. Players race their animal character around the board matching the times to the central clock but need to be wary of a hungry wolf who is waiting to pounce! There are two game levels to help both new and more experienced time-tellers practise their skills and the giant clock face with moveable hands is sturdy and will stand up to plenty of use!
Triominos, £14.49
A version of dominos with triangular pieces (so loads more connections can be made), this is a game that requires insight and a good strategy and an excellent way to get kids (and adults) thinking logically. The aim is to achieve the highest score by matching tiles; bonus points can be won by laying pieces to make a 'bridge', a 'hexagon' or a 'double hexagon'. Great fun for all ages.
First Times Tables Game, £8.30
Introduce children to their first multiplication tables – the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, learned in Year 2 maths – with a fun pancake-themed game. Players spin the spinner to see which times table they will be practising, then use the spatula to flip the pancake and race to stack the most pancakes on their plate playing board! A brilliant introduction to multiplication for KS1 children.
Sumoku, £17.99
A fast-paced crossword-style game with numbers that can be played in five different ways and is great for practising times tables. Players add up the tiles to multiples of a number shown on the die; once all the tiles are placed on the table and connected together, it's a "sumoku"! Very adaptable for different ages and stages.
Sum Swamp, £12.96
An award-winning board game for Reception or KS1, Sum Swamp reinforces addition and subtraction skills and odd and even number recognition and helps children understand number sentences. The whole family can play together: each player rolls the dice and creates a number sentence, then moves ahead the sum value, but beware of the endless loop and other game play spaces! Simple but great fun and very effective.
Times Square, £14.99
A times tables maths game from the designer of maths board game City of Zombies (above). The aim is to add, subtract, multiply and divide dice together to use your brain to survive and take out Zombies. Games can last from 10 to 30 minutes and there are rules for three different games included (each game can easily be made harder or easier to suit the players' age and maths ability). Cooperative fun for one to six players aged 7+, this standalone game also works as an expansion for City of Zombies.
Race to Infinity, £23.99
An engaging board game for children aged 6+, for reinforcing the four main operations, prime numbers and angles. Although it's designed for 2-4 players, players can also pair up so the whole family can play together. Clever design makes maths practice fun and encourages critical thinking.
Times Tables Heroes, £10.99
Do times tables practice from 2-12 the fun way with this 2-in-1 game board. In Hero City players move around the board by solving multiplication calculations to help their superhero defeat evil unicorns, outwit zombies and escape giant slugs! On the other side of the board, try a fast-paced game of Multiplication Bingo: kids will need to recall their times tables quickly to be the first player to get three in a row.
Super Hoo Ha!, £9
A number-sense game to boost your child's understanding of the interaction between the four operations (the fact that division is the inverse of multiplication and that multiplication is repeated addition). The three card sets cover the 8, 12 and 14 times tables, so the calculations can be challenging, but the competitive aspect of the game ensures no-one feels they're practising their times tables!
Decagon, £7.99
Master all the properties of 2D shapes (triangles, quadrilaterals, regular and irregular shapes) with this maths-teacher-created card game for KS1 and KS2. Suitable for 2-6 players aged 6+, fast-paced play will boost maths reasoning and thinking skills. Start by learning the number of sides each shape has and level up by playing strategically once you're confident with parallel and perpendicular lines, lines of symmetry and other properties.
Cool Maths Games for Kids
Take the DIY approach to maths board games and download TheSchoolRun's Cool Maths Games subscriber learning pack for printable boards games you can play at home including Bone Yard Bill (the basics of place value), Cowboy Cards (mental maths), Fraction Tic Tac Toe, Hop on Home (number bonds to 20), Money Matters (coin recognition), Odd and Even Racer, Rounding Garages (rounding numbers) and Shape Dominoes.
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