Anytime I can find a game for kids to play to reinforce a math skill, it’s a win for me!  These are three of my go-to addition and subtraction games for 2nd graders that are low prep, easy to learn, and simple to play over and over again!

Doubles Bingo

Double facts are huge in first and second grade because they help kids memorize so many other math facts and give kids a fluent way to add and subtract.  And I love using Bingo games because most kids already know the rules and so it doesn’t take much to model how to play!

I used one of the doubles bingo boards and spinners from my Guided Math Workshop Plans and we were good to go.  We used a pencil and paperclip to make a spinner.  I played this with my 2nd grader when I homeschooled him during the #covidyear and it was just as fun with one player as it is with a classroom full of players.

I love Bingo addition and subtraction games because they are great for so many classroom situations. Use them for whole group lessons to practice together. Or copy and toss them in your sub bucket if you need something easy for a sub.  They are also great for volunteers or aids to do with a small intervention group in the hallway.  They work well for parents to use at home too.  And they are great to put in a station like I do for Guided Math and let kids play in partners. Everybody knows how to play Bingo so it’s easy prep with not much explaining involved!

Roll and Solve

I used LOTS of Roll and _____ games in K-2.  Once the kids know the framework of the game, it’s easy to change out the skill across all areas of math, phonics, literacy, and more!  The addition and subtraction games shown below practice specific addition and subtraction strategies.  It’s to force kids to move away from using the same problem solving strategy every single time and push them to be more flexible mathematicians.

In Roll and Solve, kids have one die.  They roll and solve one of the addition or subtraction math problems in the row of the number they roll.  So, if they roll a 2, they solve the first box in row 2.  Once they fill a row, they win.

There are different ways to play this game.  You can have a game sheet for each partner.  Let the partners take turns rolling and solving.  The first one to fill a row wins.

You can also do what we did in this version below.  My 2nd grader and I each used a different color.  He solved odds and I solved evens.  When he rolled, he rolled until he rolled an odd number.  I only rolled even numbers.  Again, whoever fills in the first row wins.  This just saves a few more trees! 🙂

Add and Subtract Tic-Tac-Toe

Everybody loves tic-tac-toe!  And I love using it for practicing skills.  It’s another one of the addition and subtraction games that’s great for a wide range of skills in math and literacy!

This printed version is from my Guided Math Workshop Plans, but I have made hand written copies of tic-tac-toe countless times over the years to help with Letter or number ID, spelling, decoding words, shapes, and more!

In this math game, kids will choose which square they want.  They must correctly solve the 2-digit addition or subtraction equation before they may put the X or O in the square.  They must notate their thinking to show how they solved as well.

More Addition and Subtraction Games

You can find all these addition and subtraction games in my Guided Math Workshop Plans for 2nd grade.