10 Fun, Simple Fraction Games For KS1 & KS2

Fractions, decimals, and percentages are a large part of the maths curriculum throughout the primary age group, and using fraction games can help engage your pupils. The national curriculum for year 1 asks learners to find and recognise halves and quarters as equal parts of a shape, object, or quantity.

This process continues right through to year six, when pupils are asked to find fractions, decimals, and percentages of numbers, work with equivalent fractions and mixed numbers, and complete problems using the four operations.

As pupils sometimes struggle to visualise fractions, maths games are an excellent way to make the learning interactive. Across the primary school age range when teaching KS1 and KS2 fractions, pupils are more engaged if their learning is hands-on and presented in a fun way. Here you will find a collection of fun, simple fractions games to help engage and motivate your pupils to hone their fraction skills.

How to use fraction games

Where possible, these fraction games will use resources that can be commonly found in the primary maths classroom and printables. This is to ensure that most schools will be able to utilise these ideas, regardless of their location and demographic.

Who can use fraction games?

These games can be used by all school staff in the primary age range since fractions, decimals, and percentages are a substantial part of the curriculum. Some of these games are more suited to younger pupils and others to older learners. Each game below gives an idea of the age range for you to choose which to use based on pupils’ knowledge of fractions. They are easily adaptable for you to make them more simple or difficult, giving you the flexibility to make decisions that depend on the needs and abilities of your pupils.

When to use fraction games

The maths games can be used in whole-class teaching during the various stages of learning. For example, when you are introducing a topic, games can be used to help break this down and reduce cognitive load. Games can also be used typically as ‘filler’ activities between tasks, or as an opportunity to consolidate learning at the end of a lesson. 

In addition to being used in class, games can also be used in smaller groups to embed or revisit the learning from whole class teaching. 

For more free maths games to engage your pupils, register for the Third Space Learning Maths hub. It has hundreds of free, premium resources to help your pupils’ understanding of fractions.

What are the benefits of fraction games?

Pupils are able to remember maths concepts better when their learning is presented to them in a fun way. Hands-on activities and educational games will ensure that pupils feel more motivated and attentive when learning, making them more likely to retain important information or apply prior common core knowledge to the games. 

Tips for teachers: how to use fraction games

While fractions are often represented as parts of a circle (pizzas, cakes etc.), this is really difficult for pupils to replicate and ensure that each part is equal. It is much easier to use a rectangle (name it a chocolate bar or a loaf cake) and split this into equal parts when representing fractions.

These maths games have been organised so that you have an idea of who it may be suitable for and any resources you may need beforehand. We’ve also compiled a list of how to make each game easier or more challenging, allowing you to have the flexibility you need to adapt materials for your classes. 

Fraction games KS1

Object fractions

Suitable for:

• All primary age groups.
• In year 1 you would be finding halves and quarters.
• In year 4 you might be looking at finding both a fifth and a quarter of the amount.

What you’ll need: 

• A variety of manipulatives such as buttons, counters, counting teddies, unifix blocks, and coins.

How to play: 

• Give the pupils a pile of your chosen object.
• Ask them to split them into your chosen fraction. This works best if you give the pupils a unit fraction, rather than asking them to find non-unit fractions.
• Ask them to split them into your chosen fraction. This works best if you give the pupils a unit fraction, rather than asking them to find non-unit fractions.
• Count how many of the objects make up that fraction.

Make it easier:

• Use simpler fractions.
• Use a smaller number of objects – you could begin with two objects to split in half.
• Give pupils circles to sort the objects into.
• Add support from an adult or a peer.

Make it harder:

• You could give pupils a group of different coloured objects and ask them to find out what fraction of each colour there is. This can also lend itself well when pupils know how to simplify fractions.

Hopscotch tenths

Suitable for:

• This would be best suited when teaching fractions to these year groups.
• Year three – when pupils learn to count in tenths.
• Year four – when pupils recognise that 1/10 is equal to 0.1

What you’ll need:

• A hopscotch; either draw this or use one you already have in school (this is best done in small groups).

How to play:

• Pupils use the hopscotch as normal but count tenths aloud rather than the hopscotch counting in ones.
• Make sure pupils recognise that 10/10 = 1 whole

Make it easier:

• Have the whole group count together.

Make it harder:

• Change the fraction and ask pupils to go over the whole number (particularly in year 4), then ask the pupils to count in both mixed numbers and improper fractions.

Adding and subtracting with play-dough

Suitable for:

• Year three and four.
• In these years, pupils are beginning to learn about how to add fractions and subtracting fractions with the same denominator.
• In year three, they work with numbers up to a whole.
• In year four, they go over a whole number to make mixed and improper fractions.

What you’ll need:

• Play-dough or similar.

How to play:

• Ask pupils to make a shape (a rectangle is ideal) with their play-dough.
• Explain that they need to divide the play-dough into the number of equal parts that the denominator specifies.
• They then use the numerators to add or subtract the two fractions.
• This is an excellent way to reinforce the concept with year three pupils that the denominator does not change – if they have divided the dough into fifths, there is still only five pieces.

Make it easier:

• Working in larger groups and with less challenging denominators.
• Ask pupils to just add fractions to begin with.

Make it harder:

• Ask pupils to simplify their fractions.
• Ask pupils to create word problems to support their play-dough calculations.

Fraction games KS2

Fraction dominoes

Suitable for:

• Year three and above.
• From year three, pupils learn about equivalent fractions.
• For years four, five and six you could introduce decimal numbers and percentages to the dominoes too.

What you’ll need:

• One set of fraction dominoes per pair/group.

How to play:

• In the same way as regular dominoes, pupils match equivalent fractions together to continue the chain.
• Deal the dominoes amongst the group face down.
• The first player places a domino down in the centre of the table.
• The next must match the side of one of their dominoes with an equivalent fraction on the domino that is placed in the centre.
• Play continues in this fashion until there are no dominoes left.

Make it easier:

• Use fractions that the pupils are confident using/are currently learning.

Make it harder:

• Use mixed number and improper fractions.

Divide and multiply fractions race

Suitable for:

• In years five and six, pupils will learn how to divide fractions and how to multiply fractions. 
• In year five, stick to multiplication only.
• In year six, this game could be for a single operation or both.

What you’ll need:

• The game board, counters, and two dice.

How to play:

• All players begin at the start.
• On their turn, each player rolls one die and moves forward the set amount of squares.
• They then roll both dice to create a fraction.
• The whole group multiplies or divides the two fractions.
• If the original player gets the answer correct, they may move forward a space. 
• If they do not, they move back a space.
• Play continues, moving around the board until one player reaches the finish line.

Make it easier:

• Give pupils homemade cards instead of dice to determine the fraction they multiply or divide by.

Make it harder:

• Add a time limit. 

Roll/deal a fraction

Suitable for:

• Years five and six
• This is when pupils learn about ordering and comparing fractions with different denominators

What you’ll need:

• Dice or cards, and whiteboards.

How to play:

• Split pupils into pairs.
• pupils either deal two cards to each person or roll the dice twice.
• pupils create a fraction with the cards/rolled numbers.
• Write the two numbers onto the whiteboard.
• Use the inequality signs for the two fractions.
• The winner is the person with the largest fraction.
• Repeat for 5 rounds.
• Keep a record of all ten fractions created.
• Produce a number line ordering the fractions.

Make it easier:

• Create cards with just the denominators that you want the pupils to work with.
• Ask pupils to ensure the numerator is smaller than the denominator to make sure they have proper fractions.

Make it harder:

• Ask pupils to start simplifying the fractions and create a mixed number from an improper fraction.

Calculating with dominoes

Suitable for:

• Key Stage Two is when pupils learn to calculate with fractions.
• In years three and four, pupils work on adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator, they move on to different denominators in years five and six.
• In upper key stage two, pupils also learn to multiply and divide fractions.

What you’ll need:

• Dominoes (if you are in lower key stage two, give each pair or group dominoes that have the same number of spots on one section that they can use as the denominator)

How to play:

• Pupils take two dominoes from the selection.
• They place them vertically so they resemble fractions.
• Ask the pupils to perform the calculation you are working on for those two fractions.
• Check that the pupils understand that a domino with the same number of spots on both sides would represent a whole number.

Make it easier:

• Select the dominoes you give to pupils so they are denominators that they can work with.

Make it harder:

• Ask pupils to make four different calculations by turning their two dominoes. This will result in some improper and mixed number fractions for them to convert. 

Fraction games for all of primary school

Fraction village

Suitable for:

• Year two onwards.
• In year two, pupils could work with halves and quarters (fourths).
• In year three, you can introduce both unit and non-unit fractions.
• By year six, you could put decimal numbers and percentages into the instructions too.

What you’ll need:

• Instruction worksheets, paper, pencils, and colouring pencils.

How to play:

• Pupils draw a village according to the instructions.

Make it easier:

• Give the pupils a number of houses already drawn (therefore you can control this variable) and ask them to follow the instructions.
• Use the same denominator as the number of houses the pupils have in their village.

Make it harder:

• Use fractions that do not add up to a whole.
• Use fractions with varying denominators that do not lend themselves to converting into equivalent fractions.

Our class in fractions

Suitable for:

• Key Stage Two
• Pupils need to understand what the numerator and denominator of a fraction represent but this game is an excellent way to reinforce these maths skills.

What you’ll need:

• A large piece of paper/post-it notes/another way of recording.

How to play:

• Ask each child or pair of pupils to come up with a category e.g. ‘pupils in our class wearing a skirt’ or ‘pupils in our class having a packed lunch today’ to apply to a real-life scenario.
• Task the pupils with finding out the fraction of the class for whom that is true.
• Make a whole class poster/display with the information.

Make it easier:

• Work in larger groups/with an adult.
• Have predetermined categories that will create easy-to-use fractions.

Make it harder:

• Encourage the pupils to convert fractions into their simplified form or find equivalent fractions.

Read more: 28 Fraction Word Problems for Year 2 to Year 6

Fractions in my name

Suitable for:

• Year 3 and 4 when pupils are learning about fractions of numbers.
• This could also be a fun game for a getting-to-know-you session at the beginning of year 4 or 5.

What you’ll need:

• Fractions in my name worksheet.

How to play:

• Pupils fill in the worksheet related to their name. They could use their full name or just their first name.

Make it easier:

• Work through it as a class/small group to ensure they understand what they are looking for.

Make it harder:

• Task older pupils to convert these into fractions or percentages.

Further reading:

• What Is A Unit Fraction: Explained For Primary School
• What Is An Improper Fraction: Explained For Primary School
• How To Explain KS2 Fractions
• How To Teach Fractions Key Stage 2: Maths Bootcamp

Looking for fun games and activities to boost pupils’ learning?
We’ve got several articles sharing teacher approved maths activities and fun maths games, including KS2 maths games, KS1 maths games and KS3 maths games for all maths topics and a set of 35 times tables games and multiplication games you’ll want to bookmark whichever year group you teach!