Friday Faves: Online Multiplication Games

I've started back up with tutoring this fall. This time I'm tutoring a student with autism who struggles with multiplication and division. Since he has a long day of school before he comes my way, he needs to have at least one break during our hour-long sessions. He loves the computer, so I've decided to make that break a meaningful one by letting him choose from a list of online multiplication games. Here are just a few of the higher-quality games I've found:

#1: Arcademic Skill Builders
http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
This engaging website includes four multi-player multiplication games: Grand Prix Multiplication, Space Race Multiplication, Tug Team: Multiplication, and Penguin Jump Multiplication. For each one, you can start your own game and play against the computer or join another player's game to play against real people. For those motivated by competition (that would be me), Grand Prix Multiplication has a scoreboard where the fastest times are posted. Each of these games is a little unique and pretty fun to play, but Grand Prix is my favorite because of the scoreboard feature.

The Arcademic Skill Builders website also has one single player multiplication: Meteor Multiplication. This game is different from the others because you can set a maximum product for a student who only know their facts up to a certain point.

This is a fun website with fast-paced, arcade-style games. I'd play the games, and I don't even need the practice (although I didn't get on the Grand Prix scoreboard...yet!).

#2: Funbrain
http://www.funbrain.com
Funbrain is FULL of math games. If you've never visited the site before, the first place to check out for math practice is the Funbrain Math Arcade. Pick a game piece, choose a level of difficulty (1-8, basically corresponding to grade level), and head out onto a virtual game board. Each stop along the way is a different math arcade game, and math skills vary depending on the game and the difficulty. Kids really get into the math arcade. Many will choose to write down the code that allows them to pick up where they leave off if they exit the site before finishing.

More math games can be found in the "numbers" section of the Funbrain website. These games are not Flash games, but they tend to be more skill-specific. Many of the games let you choose an operation and select a difficulty level. For multiplication, the difficulty levels range from Easy (factors up to 5) and Medium (factors up to 9), to Hard and Super Brain (multi-digit multiplication). These games include: Math Baseball, MathCar Racing, Soccer Shootout, Tic Tac Squares, and Power Football. Another feature of these games is that you can choose to have the math facts written algebra-style (6 x __ = 12) or standard (6 x 2 = 12) depending on what you want your students to practice. The non-Flash games have a simpler style to them, but are more easily differentiated to your student's goals.

#3 Primary Games
http://primarygames.com/math
The Primary Games website has a wide variety of games, but it's a little confusing to separate the educational games from the just-for-fun games, in spite of labels such as "Math" and "Language Arts." Here a few multiplication-related games that seemed worthwhile:

Number Eaters - Think PacMan, except you are trying to eat the multiplication facts that add up to a certain product. Basic multiplication facts.

MathMan - Think PacMan (again), except you eat ?s that give you math facts to solve, and you have to eat the correct answer. Includes double digit facts, and not just multiplication.

The Multiplication Game - This is similar to Connect Four. This game requires some strategy in addition to knowledge of multiplication facts. More challenging, but fun!

Have your own favorite math game websites? Post below to share!