Fun Addition Fact Practice – Train Doubles Plus 1
Sometimes I feel so stuck with learning math facts – or the boys learning math facts that is. They’re not highly motivated so the idea just falls flat on them. So I’m continually trying to find new, fun, and novel ways to get them to practice! I knew I wanted a train doubles plus 1 game but I wasn’t sure what to make it. I’m pretty excited about how it turned out though!
Today is the last day of the transportation theme. What a fun ride it’s been, heh! You can see all of the transportation printables on the 31 Days of Printables page. Or, sign up for the handy dandy newsletter to get all the links in your inbox.
Why Doubles Plus 1
I don’t remember learning doubles or doubles plus 1 in school, but it might be my memory that is lacking. Still, I had to wonder what this doubles plus 1 thing was all about.
I love math strategies. Anything that makes math more logical and easier is a win to me. Learning doubles isn’t really anything special except that it does give kids a wide range of addition facts. We could have picked a lot of facts to focus on but doubles did seem to win this time.
Once kids know 1+1 to 12+12 they can easily memorize another set entirely. If you know 4+4 is 8 and 5 is just one more than 4…then you also know that 4+5 is just one more than 4+4. Which means 4+5=8+1 or 9.
Yes, initially it’s long to explain. Once they understand what you’re getting at though, it’s very easy. And voila, 12 more facts memorized.
How to Use the Train Doubles Plus 1 Addition Game
I’ve been doing some printable games lately but this one is not like those. It’s not meant to be a group activity and it’s really not even meant to be reusable. I just wanted something simple that was more game-like than worksheet-like and this is what I came up with.
The idea is simple – get the conductor to the engine. There is one page for just doubles and one page for doubles plus 1.
Roll one die, double the number, and add one. Then move to that spot and color it in. Get all the way to the engine! There’s really not much to the game. You can play doubles and have two people with two different colors playing. See who can get to the engine first!
For the doubles page, the instructions are nearly identical. Roll one die and double the number. Proceed as usual!
Go Here to Download the Train Theme Doubles Plus 1 Addition Game!
If you want to see this and more in your inbox every week, subscribe to the newsletter!
