Believe it or not, some of the best gifts are toys and games that nurture a love of math. For kids who already love math these gifts are a treat. However, for kids who haven't yet found joy in math, the right game or activity has the potential to encourage them to think about the subject in new ways.
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Math Gifts Table of Contents
Math Toys
Kids develop and learn skills during playtime. And those skills, like visual perception, patterning, enumerating and investigating are crucial for later academic success!
STANDARD UNIT BLOCKS
Find it: Amazon
Unit blocks are the classic toy. They provide endless amounts of entertainment, and teach everything from math concepts to physics all the while engaging a child's imagination. Every kid should have a set of unit blocks. No question. This is a great, basic set. Colors can be appealing to grown-ups buying toys, but neutral, unfinished block are the most versatile. Excellent for all ages!
PATTERN BLOCKS
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These colorful, wooden pattern blocks are a great math gift that doesn't look like a math gift! This block set offers kids the chance to build skills pattern recognition, matching, sorting, spatial awareness and one-to-one correspondence. Not only can they build designs based on the pre-determined patterns trays, but they can manipulate the blocks to arrange their own designs and patterns, allowing for endless creativity. Perfect for ages 3-6.
SHAPE SHIFTING BOX
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This geometric marvel will mesmerize your kids for hours as they explore all the amazing shapes they can create. The box consists of magnetized puzzle pieces that you manipulate into seemingly endless shapes, drawing upon your spatial awareness and engineering design skills. It also makes a great fidget toy! Ages 8 and up.
Math Games
Some of the best math gifts for kids are games, and especially single player logic puzzles which also allow kids to strengthen their growth mindset skills. Here are our favorite single player and family math-themed games.
SUMOKU
Find it: Amazon
If Scrabble and Qwirkle had a baby who loved math, it would be Sumoku! Players use basic math skills to create patterns and sets in a crossword style format. The best part is there are several variations so the game never gets boring. This has been a family favorite! Ages 8 and up.
PRIME CLUB
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For kids ages 10 to adult, Prime Climb is an excellent gift for any math-loving family. The game has won a ton of awards and is actually quite easy to learn. Plus, there are different variations of game play and even adults will be surprised at how much they learn and practice their math skills!
COLORKU
Find it: Amazon
As the name implies, this is a giant version of Sudoku using colored wooden marbles instead of numbers. When your little genius has completed all the included puzzle cards, a card extension deck is also available. Ages 8 and up.
MATH DICE
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Need a stocking stuffer for a kid who loves dice games and math? Math Dice are perfect.
Although the dice come with instructions for a specific game, that won't stop kids from inventing their own! Ages 6 and up.
Books
In addition to the hands-on learning benefits of math games and toys, don't overlook the power of just the right book to inspire math learning! For more math books visit our book lists:
MATH PERPLEXORS
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These are not your run-of-the-mill workbooks! Remember those logic puzzles you did as a kid? Math Perplexors are classic grid logic puzzles but with a math twist. Fortunately, the activity book series offers multiple levels for different grade levels, from easy to expert! Ages 7 and up.
HOW TO BE A MATH GENIUS
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Doesn't everyone want to be a math genius? This clever, interactive book covers all things math, and then some! It's surprisingly entertaining. Ages 8 and up.
THE BOOK OF PERFECTLY PERILOUS MATH
Find it: Amazon
This intriguingly named book will spur your child on to investigate math conundrums. Author Sean Connolly frames math problems as precarious and dangerous scenarios. The math problem begins with a story and presents the problem to be solved, advice on how to solve it and several grid pages as workspace. For example, in "Tornado on Your Tail!" problem solvers must uses clues in the story to figure out how long they have to find shelter before being overtaken by a fast-approaching tornado. The solution to each problem is clearly laid out and explained. A highly entertaining way to practice math! Ages 10 and up.
YOU CAN COUNT ON MONSTERS
Find it: Amazon
My son loved this book and spend hours looking through it! The aim of the book is to help readers understand factoring and prime numbers and is great for visual learners. The book includes an explanation of how the numbers can be broken down into smaller units and then every number from 1 to 100 is given an artistic representation based on its prime number components. Ages 7 and up.
maryanne @ mama smiles says
We LOVE snap circuits! And I think Johnny is getting Rush Hour for Christmas, all because of you! Thanks for all of these great ideas!
Johanna says
Thanks for these recommendations ~ good timing too, as I was searching for smart toys too!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I'm glad they are helpful!
Even in Australia says
I got my kids Colorku. We already have Rush Hour - Jr. for them, regular for ME! We also have Qwirkle. But now I want to check out Sumoku and the monsters math book. I have one math lover and one math hater. I'm also interested in some non-fiction math books - I don't have my list in front of me but there are some by Betsy Franco, i think, and a few others that are poems about math or otherwise make math fun. I'm not sure they actually require or teach math SKILLS, but making it fun is half the battle. The actress from The Wonder Years has a few books out about how girls shouldn't fear math and reviewing math skills, but they are for older kids. Still, I want to look at them - I want to make sure they are not coming from a place talking about NOT fearing math because i don't want to implant the idea that girls (or anyone) should be afraid of math in either of my kid's heads. Would love to see your math book ideas. We also love the Paul Erdos biography, which is more bio than math, but does have a nice page or two on prime numbers.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Rachel -- I'm not sure when I'll get to making my math books list, not at least until January - but I have some ideas on my Pinterest board for math Picture books (you don't have to have an account at Pinterest to view them): http://www.pinterest.com/momandkiddo/picture-books-math/
PramgaticMom says
My son really loves Snap Circuits though it doesn't get more than a month's worth of use. We don't have those two kits so I think I will get them for him for Xmas! Great list!
Amy @ Sunlit Pages says
I am in love with this list! I know my five-year-old is still a little young for a lot of your recommendations, but I'm going to show this list to my husband and see if he thinks any of them will be a good fit for our kids this Christmas. But if not now, then definitely in the future! Thanks!
Natalie says
OK, my wallet is itching already! Too many toys and games I didn't know about! You certainly know how to show math geeks good time 🙂
Julie says
Can you please be my new best mommy friend! Love all these ideas. I'm a former teacher/math coach for intermediate students now turned stay at home mommy to three boys 5 and under. I love your ideas for being sneaky about math at home. We bought traffic jam junior for my 5 year old and he loves it. I am amazed at how much he has improved in such a short time. Thank you for all your work on your blog. What a gift!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Ha Ha! All the credit for why there is so much math in our home really goes to my oldest son. His passion for it really leads the way.
Anna says
Pinning this for when my little mathematicians are ready for the challenge! Love this list.
marieclx says
What a great list! Been thinking of sumoku for some time - will have to read your post 🙂
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yes, do! The Sumoku post is up today. It's a fabulous game!
Jessica says
I love Rush Hour, Sumoku, and Snap Circuits and so does my 4.5 yr old.
Jen says
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this wonderful list! We've enjoyed so many of your book and game recommendations but this list has been extra useful. I have a math loving kindergartener who's beyond his school curriculum so I've been supplementing at home. Math Perplexus and Logic Links have been a huge hit. My son begs to work on these books every chance he gets. In fact, he was late to school today because he couldn't put them down long enough to get ready in time. I also now have a very unwieldy Christmas gift idea list. There are so many great times to buy! Must start pruning that list...
Erica MomandKiddo says
I'm so glad the list is useful for you! I also know the feeling of trying to get out the door while my son has is nose in of book of one kind or another!!