Math Games For Grade 4: Fun, Free Math Activities (No Screens Required!)

October 5, 2023 | 4 min read

Vanessa Sipple-Asher

This blog includes a wide selection of 4th grade math games. Fourth grade can be a challenging time for young learners. Fourth graders face more complex concepts and work hard to develop their math skills.

What do fourth graders learn in math?

By fourth grade, students are tackling all four of the primary mathematical operations. They are using multi-digit addition and subtraction, tackling division problems, and exploring place value to name just a few topics.

When to use 4th grade math games

With so much new information, fourth grade math can be intimidating for some students. Introducing fun games into the math class is a great way to make topics more approachable. Fun math activities and games can be a good way to start a lesson and warm up the class before diving more deeply into the material. A math puzzle can also be a fun way to end a class and for the teacher to observe how well students grasped the day’s content.

How to use these 4th grade math games

All of the math games listed below are easy to play and require very few resources. Many of these games are also able to be adapted to cover other topics and can be made more or less difficult depending on your students’ levels.

How many ways?

By fourth grade, children should be confident with all four written methods. This math game is good for getting children practicing the four written methods, as well as bringing in other mathematical calculations, such as fractions.

What you will need to play:

2 or more players
A dice

How to play:

Throw the dice 4 times to generate a 4 digit number
Players then have 3 minutes to make as many different calculations with the target numbers as an answer.
1 point is given for each correct calculation, using an operation which hasn’t been used before. For example, a point is given for an addition calculation, but if a second addition calculation is recorded, a 2nd point wouldn’t be given.
If a 3, 2, 1 and 6 were thrown, this would give a target number of 3216.
The players could create an addition calculation, e.g. 1568 + 1648 = 3216, or a subtraction calculation, e.g. 4536 – 1320 = 3216. Another example would be a calculation involving fractions, e.g. ½ of 6432 = 3216

Product hunt

This math game enables children to practice the standard algorithm of multiplication in a more fun and motivational way than just working through calculations on a worksheet.

What you will need to play:

2 players
0-9 digit cards
Paper and pen

How to play:

Shuffle the cards and place them in the middle of the table, face down.
Players take turns to take a card and place it face up on the table.
Continue until 4 cards have been selected.
Once the 4 cards have been chosen, players have 2 minutes to create and solve as many multiplication questions as they can (e.g. if the cards 2, 9, 5, and 1 were chosen, they could write down the calculation 291 x 5.
Children can be encouraged to multiply by both 1 and 2 digit numbers.

Prime numbers game

In fourth grade, children are introduced to prime numbers. This is a good math game for helping children to learn which numbers are prime.

What you will need to play:

2 or more players
Pack of cards (Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12 and King =13)
List of prime numbers (optional) – 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, and 113

How to play:

Shuffle the cards and deal 11 cards to each player, which they hold in their hand. The top card of the remainder of the pack is turned over and is the “starting number.”
The non-dealer (or person to the left of the dealer) adds a card from their hand that adds to the starting card to equal a prime number.
The next player then tries to add to that total to equal a larger prime number.
When a player can no longer add a card that sums up to a prime number, the hand is over, and the last person to make a prime number gets a point.
The first player to score 5 points is the winner.

Adding fractions game

In fourth grade, children are expected to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator and fractions with different denominators which are multiples of the same number.

What you will need to play:

2 or more players
1 dice
Blank fractions sheet (See downloadable resources)
Pen/pencil

How to play:

Each player has a blank fractions page.
Take turns throwing the dice and each player decides which box on their sheet to put the number in
Once four numbers have been rolled and all 4 boxes contain a number, each player adds their fractions together.
The player who has made the greatest fraction, when the 2 are added together, scores 2 points.
If both players make the sized fraction, each player scores 1 point.
The winner is the first player to reach 10 points.
This game can be made more challenging by using multiplication or division.

Zap

This is a very enjoyable whole-class mental math game that works best with arithmetic calculations. It requires no resources and can be adapted for any topic; multiplication, division, addition, or subtraction and is a great way to assess knowledge of math facts.

How to play:

Students stand back to back and take 3 steps away from each other. If they want, they can prepare their fingers as ‘laser guns’ ready to stun their opponent with their answer.
A question master (this could be yourself or a student) asks a question. They must know the answer to the question.
The first student to turn around and say ‘zap’ followed by the correct answer is the winner of the round. They stay on while another student takes their place.

To add whole-class competition, you could split the class in half and have the players representing their half of the class.

Five To One

This game tests children’s verbalization and problem solving skills.

What you need to play:

Cards with math statements written on them
Two players

How to play:

Step 1: The first person picks a card containing five statements. Each of the five statements provide a clue to the final answer, starting with a vague clue for the first statement, through to an easy clue for the fifth statement.
Step 2: Player one picks a card and reads out the first statement. E.g. ‘This shape has four sides’(you can make it into a geometry game).
Step 3: Player two can choose to give an answer and score the maximum five points, if they are correct, but risk scoring zero if they are wrong. Alternatively, they can choose to hear the four point question. They keep on going until they get a question wrong, or they choose to pass to hear the next question until they get to the final one point question.

Equivalent fractions snap

This is a simple game to help children practice identifying equivalent fractions.

What you will need to play:

2 players
A set of fractions cards

How to play:

Place the shuffled pile of cards face down on the table.
Players take turns flipping over a card. If 2 cards are turned over with equivalent fractions e.g. 4/8 and ½ , then the first player to call out ‘snap’ and put their hand on the pile first keeps the pair.
The winner is the player at the end of the game with the most equivalent pairs.
This game can be made easier by giving students a number line

Multiplication Hopscotch

This is a great multiplication game for an active class, or during nice weather when students just want to spend time outside. It combines the fun of the playground whilst bringing some math into the mix.

What you need to play:

Chalk

How to play:

Step 1: Using chalk, draw out hopscotch squares on the ground and in each square, write either multiples of a number or multiplication facts.
Step 2: Each student then hop, skips, and counts at the same time, which is a really good way of helping those multiplication tables stick.
Make this game more challenging by using 2 or 3 digit multiplication.

The Biggest Number

Place value is a crucial skill for children to grasp during elementary school, and this simple place value game will help them to do that in a visual and fun way.

What you need to play:

One place value grid (drawn onto a piece of paper)
A deck of playing cards

How to play:

Step 1: Each player draws a place value grid with an agreed number of places. E.g. thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones.
Step 2: Using a deck of cards 2-10, Ace, and picture cards, with 2-10 being worth their digit, Aces being worth 1 and picture cards being worth 0.
Step 3: Players take turns to draw a card from the pile, and each player chooses which column to record the number in. The winner is the person to have the biggest number recorded at the end of the game.

Wild Jack

This is a fast-paced math card game for two or more players that really challenges a student’s ability to solve math problems. This game also combines all operations, making it a great subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division game.

What you need to play:

A deck of cards

How to play:

Step 1: Other than the Jacks, remove all of the picture cards from a deck. Jacks are ‘wild cards’ and can be used at any time to represent any number from 1 – 10.
Step 2: The aim of the game is to reach the target number. To make the target number, shuffle the pack and turn over the top two cards. If either are a 10 or joker, put them to the bottom. The 2 cards turned over make the target number. For example, if you turn over the 5 of hearts then the 2 of diamonds, your target number is 52.
Step 3: Each player is dealt 5 cards, which are set out face up. Players can then add, subtract, multiply and divide to try to reach the target number. If the target number is reached using all 5 cards, 10 points is scored, if it is made using less than 5 cards, 8 points is scored.

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