Cool and math aren’t exactly found in the same sentence too often. More likely, the dog ate your child’s math homework, right? If you’re having trouble getting your children to love math the way they love recess, check out these math games for kids as well as some hacks that will show your kids that math is fun! Play away, and soon, your child will be a math magician!

Pico Fomi Zilch: Kids having trouble with number recognition? Start up a game of Pico Fomi Zilch. The way it works is one person randomly selects a number that the other person has to guess and tells them how many digits it has. The second person then proceeds to guess a number. The first person responds with a combination of “pico” “fomi” and “zilch:” pico means right digit, right place; fomi means right digit, wrong place; and zilch means entirely incorrect. You continue to go back and forth until all of the digits are ‘pico.’

Mad Minute: Time to memorize the multiplication tables? Having trouble with long division? Turn to Mad Minute for a fun take on math worksheets. In this minute-long drill, your child will fill out a series of 48 multiplication problems, successively, completing as many as possible in that minute. Once the minute is up, you check the answers for accuracy, and they receive a score. Once one of the answers is marked wrong, the score stops there, even if there are other problems answered after that. This way, your child is forced to move successively through the page, taking their time on each answer. The fast-paced nature of the game will automatically bring out your child’s competitive side- both to beat their own time and to beat their friends. The game is best played with a group of children. Make your own Mad Minute Math Worksheets or print these.

GoGoDoku: For a fun math game we all still play, there’s no harm in knocking the classic Sudoku. For some kid-friendly fun, here’s a GoGoDoku for you to download and print.

Enlist the Internet: The internet has some great sites featuring games intended to make math fun for kids. Chances are, your kids already love playing games on the internet, so why not encourage them to choose sites that also help them learn? Some of our favorites include Cool Math Games, Cool Math 4 Kids, Primary Games, and Math Playground.

Multiplication Hacks:

Handy Dandy: Kids having trouble with the multiplication tables? Teach them this trick– all they’ll need is their hands.

9 Times Reverse: The 9’s table in multiplication is practically a hack in itself. As shown here, multiples of 9 work in the reverse order.

A Fraction of the Fun: Skip the pizza pie next time you’re trying to help your kids with fractions. This butterfly method for adding and subtracting fractions is all they’ll need.

A Container of Coffee with your Pi?: Did you know you can remember the value of pi (3.1415926) by the number of letters in each word of “May I have a large container of coffee?”

While math may not have the best rep when it comes to play and fun, turning math into a game is bound to have the kids on board to learn. By the time your kids play all these games, they will understand that math is fun! Do you have a favorite math game? Share in the comments below!