Engaging Summer Math: Easy, Hands On & FUN Ideas
Looking for low-key ways to keep kids learning math over the summer? Find engaging summer math ideas below, including hands on practice, easy games, LEGO math and more!
Ahhh, summer.
A time for vacations and catching fireflies, trips to the pool and firing up the grill. While there are probably endless images and activities that come to mind when you think of summer, I’m willing to bet that doing math just isn’t one of them.
But the truth is, for most students, summer is a time when all the important math skills they worked so hard to learn throughout the year are completely lost. So here are some SUPER simple summer math activities that will keep your kids from being bored (and keep them learning!).
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Fun and Simple Summer Math Activities:
Read through the different types of ideas below to find some summer math activities that are right for your kids. There are ideas for games and puzzles that won’t even feel like learning, along with outdoor games, hands on activities, simple printable pages and more!
Play with Math Puzzles:
- Work on Sudoku puzzles. Kids too young for them? Check out Kidoku Puzzles | Krazy Dad
- Try Magic Squares or a Magic Triangle | What Do We Do All Day
- Play with these Pattern Block Logic Puzzles
- Challenge each other to Mental Math Races
- Create Jumping Mazes (inside or outside!)
- Put together these Fraction Puzzles, Telling Time Puzzles or Money Puzzles
Take Math Outside:
- Have an even and odd number beanbag toss
- Practice important skills with Water Balloon Math | No Time for Flash Cards
- Make a hula hoop clock to review time related problems | Creekside Learning
- Build 3D shapes with sticks | Creative Star Learning
- Play Marshmallow Shoot and Measure | No Time for Flash Cards
- Have a shapes scavenger hunt (Want more of a challenge? Look for 3D shapes instead!)
- Play Sidewalk Chalk Number Line Race
- Practice measurement in your flower bed or garden | The Educator’s Spin On It
- Heading to the beach? Use sea shells for counting, sorting or a fun memory game | No Time for Flash Cards
- Try a fun twist on a classic: Skip Counting Hopscotch
- Play Puddle Jump, a simple, easily adaptable game
Related: 6 Little Known Benefits of Taking Math Outside
Learn Math with LEGO:
- Work on place value with LEGO | The Science Kiddo
- Explore addition & subtraction with LEGO
- Explore multiplication & division with LEGO
- Build a rocket powered Lego car | Frugal Fun 4 Boys
- Play LEGO Baseball (and discuss statistics!) | Teach Mama
- Practice double digit addition and subtraction | Real Life at Home
- Create LEGO Duplo Puzzles for your kids to put together
- Prove the Pythagorean Theorem with LEGO bricks
**Looking for more LEGO math ideas? Check out 30+ easy ways to learn with LEGO Math!
Play Math Games:
- Incorporate math into family game night with  Sum Swamp , Hi Ho Cherry-O
, Monopoly Junior
, or if you have older ones, here’s another list of games | Planet Smarty Pants
- Play with a Calculator (hint: NOT to do math calculations) or try these fun calculator riddles | And Next Comes L
- Play Strike it Out for adding and subtracting fun | Teach Mama
- Play Math Twister to review any and all math facts
- Use this simple game to review any math facts (all you need is a piece of paper!)
- Let the kids “play store” with their favorite books or toys to practice adding money and making change (Here’s a great Play Money Set)
- Use a Hundred’s Chart
 to play Euclid’s Game or Hundred Chart Nim | Let’s Play Math
- Play this “Jack and the Beanstalk” multiplication game | Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational
- Play Multiplication Dash, another printable multiplication game
- Play a math card game
- Make a DIY Mancala Game and play together
Read Math Story Books:
- Learn with the “Sir Cumference” math story books
- Read Bedtime Math
 (or Bedtime Math 2
) together each day and discuss (it doesn’t have to be a bedtime! We are currently reading a little each day at lunch! Read my full review here.)
- Read and play with Ten Apples Up On Top
- Learn about money with Pigs will Be Pigs
- See math in real life with Math Curse
- Explore fractions and patterns with The Lion’s Share
- Learn about triangles with The Greedy Triangle
- Practice problem solving with The Grapes of Math
- Tell time with The Grouchy Ladybug
Looking for math books by topic? Check out the math read aloud lists below:
- Math books about counting
- Math books to explore place value and large numbers
- Math books to learn about addition & subtraction
- Math books to understand multiplication & division
- Math picture books to make sense of fractions
- Money math picture books
- Picture books about time and telling time
Math Around the House Ideas:
- Create a STEAM Bored Jar for activities throughout the summer |  Left Brain Craft Brain
- Explore summer STEM Ideas specifically for middle school
- Practice counting with watermelon seeds (or other fruits)
- Have a weekly estimation jar challenge using small toys, balls or household items (encourage your kids to make educated guesses and work on estimating techniques)
- Get in the kitchen for fun with math and cooking
- Explore math with Q-Tips
- Play with math and Skittles in PreK-1 or math with Skittles in 3-5
Printable Summer Math Games & Practice:
Looking for some summer-themed worksheets? The activities below are a fun way to easily work on targeted math skills as kids work their way through the maze, solve the riddles or cut and paste numbers. The best part? Just print and play!
- Ice Cream Counting Mats: Play Dough Math Play | Numbers 1-20
- Summer Counting Cut & Paste | Count to 20
- Summer Math Mazes for Grades 3-4 | Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication & Division
- Camping themed Ratio & Proportion Challenges
- Summer Algebra: Solve Equations Riddle Pages
Reviewing important math skills doesn’t have to be boring, time-consuming or expensive! Use items you already have on hand, grab some books at the library or make up fun games to play outside to encourage young learners to keep thinking and problem solving all summer long!
Got any other FUN and simple summer math ideas to prevent learning loss and still have a fantastic summer?? Share in the comments! 🙂
Awesome list of activities! Definitely pinning this now… I think we might try the bean bag toss this afternoon, too. Thanks for including our STEAM Bored Jar!
You’re welcome! I thought your STEAM jar was a brilliant idea! Thanks for pinning and sharing this list! 🙂
What an awesome list of games. We love fun activities that double as learning!
My kiddos like our simple Make Ten math game. It’s nice because the game easily grows with them through the years.
http://waddleeahchaa.com/2012/01/16/make-ten-math-game-book-of-the-week-giveaway/
We also have ThinkFun Math Dice Jr. Makes math practice fun!
Thanks for sharing, Jeannine! I enjoyed popping over to your site to check it out! I love simple math games with a deck of cards, so easy to set up and play! 🙂
Wow, what a thorough list of great suggestions! I’m planning to homeschool my son for kindergarten next year, so I’ve been trying to think of ideas to keep his math skills growing without him getting bored. I’m definitely pinning this!
Thanks Michelle! I’ve been trying so hard to find things that are fun for my kids, and keep them from being bored, but do not require a week’s worth of prep on my part! 🙂 Hope you find some things here useful!
i love that