Learning Resources have a great range of educational toys and games. We have used their products often and rely on them for good quality, so I was happy to try out a couple of new educational board games that work on developing maths skills.
We were sent Buy it Right and Top of the Tables to review and both are great for consolidating the boys maths learning at home in a fun way.
Top the Tables
Top of the Tables is a football themed game that works on learning multiplication / times tables. The game is played by two players, and in order to move your way across the pitch each player must look for a space that multiples by the number they have spun on the spinner. Then in order to shoot a goal, they must correctly answer the question on their score card. The score cards are word problems, but all come down to multiplication just phrased in different ways to help children work out the problem in different scenarios.
In the pack, you get different boards for each time table, so you can play on whatever table you’re working on at that time. It does mean that there is less variety within each individual game, but it is really good for repeating and focusing on the one times table and really consolidating it. The game covers all of the times tables all the way up to the 13x and 14x tables, which I thought is really good since often children only go up to 12x, so this allows them to stretch themselves.
The game is recommended for ages 6-12 which I would say is about right, since you can vary the difficulty level by choosing different times tables. My 7 year old really enjoyed the game, since football and times tables are both things he is quite keen on! My almost 6 year old is also able to play the game with some of the easier times tables, and it is a fun way to work on consolidating those with him.
Typically, learning times tables by rote can get quite repetitive and boring for kids so this game is a great way to mix things up and bring a bit of fun to their times tables, so that they will learn by playing and enjoy the topic.
See Top of the Tables on the Learning Resources site, and buy for £15.54
Buy It Right
Buy it Right is a detailed board game focusing on learning and understanding how money works. This topic is something that my almost 6 year old has been covering in Year 1 this year, and is an area of maths that my kids always seem to enjoy. They always enjoy the chance to earn and manage money, so this game is fun for them and the educational benefits are an extra bonus.
In the game, each player moves around the board taking it in turns to buy and sell items. They can set their own prices based on the numbers that they role, so they can work strategically to buy for cheap price and sell for more.
The game comes realistic money, both coins and notes, and the lid of the game is to be used as a cash register during play. Since you need to set this out along with the board, you do need more space to play the game so set it up on a large table or on the floor.
This game is recommended for age 5-10 years, which seems accurate to me too. You can adjust the difficulty of the game by playing just in pounds or pence, rather than with the decimals which makes it suitable for the older and younger children within the age range. This is the case with a lot of Learning Resources games, which is great.
See Buy it Right on the Learning Resources site and buy for £21.54
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
These look great, my daughter struggles with maths
this looks like a great game for my young grandson
I have been looking for a game exactly like these and thanks to your blog I have now discovered Learning Resources. They have some great stuff available!