Yet another game that the wonderful Hope from Elementary Shenanigans adapted for her classroom was Headbandz! If you've ever played the game, you know how ridiculously silly and playful it is, and kids LOVE ridiculous and silly! 😉 I knew I had to think of a way to adapt it for my classroom.
As we have started working on multiplication, I knew my students needed a few minutes of practice multiple times a day to really solidify their math facts. I was also looking for a game to play during math workshop to practice multiplying. Factor Frenzy Headbands game was born! When we play, several of my kids have called it “The BEST Math fact game ever!”
This is SO easy– go to Wal Mart and grab a few inexpensive stretchy headbands. THESE are the handbands I purchased (affiliate link). Make a stack of index cards with products (numbers) on them.
Then, put your students in groups of 3 (2 worked, too, but 3 was best). The first child puts the headband on and puts some index cards on their headband. They can't see it, but their two teammates can. Their teammates then give them factors (multiplication facts) to equal the product. The student with the headband on has to solve the problem to pull the card out. I give each child one minute with the headband on and they get to save the cards they successfully solved. It's definitely a teamwork game, and what I love most about it is that ALL of the kids are practicing their facts, not just the ones with the headband on!
Just like the real game, they can't say the number that is on their head, so ONE times the number is NOT an option! I threw in some prime numbers to throw them off, and those didn't count when the students got them. 😉
Have fun with this math fact game!
