In upper elementary classrooms, it can be challenging to find a balance between rigorous math practice and engaging activities. Traditional worksheets often lead to 😴🫠, while some “fun” activities lack the rigor needed to reinforce key skills. Enter Answer and Earn Math Crafts 🖍️✂️ These activities not only reinforce math concepts, but also tap into student creativity, making math review both fun and meaningful.
Why Use Math Crafts for Review?
As students move through elementary school, opportunities for creativity in math tend to decrease. Let me let you in on a little secret… older students love crafts just as much as younger ones! By incorporating crafting and coloring into math review activities, students stay engaged while reinforcing their math skills in a way that feels like a game.
How Answer and Earn Math Crafts Work
Each craft is designed with rigor and engagement in mind, ensuring that the time spent “crafting” is time well spent. Here’s how it works:
- Solve Math Problems: Students begin by working through a set of standards-aligned math problems covering key skills.
- Earn Pieces: For each correct answer, they earn a piece of the craft.
- Create the Craft: Once all pieces are earned, students color and assemble their final product! This adds a creative element to their math practice. BONUS: It makes a great hallway bulletin board display!
Benefits of Using Math Crafts
✅ More Engagement, Less Boredom – Students get excited about math when it feels like a challenge they want to complete. The mix of solving, earning, and crafting keeps them focused and involved.
✅ Built-In Differentiation – Since students must solve problems at their own pace, teachers can easily differentiate by adjusting difficulty or providing scaffolds as needed.
✅ Sense of Accomplishment: Completing a craft serves as a visual representation of the student’s hard work! This boosts student confidence and allows them to take pride in their achievements.
Making Math Review Fun and Rigorous
Not all math crafts are created equal—some are a lot more about coloring and less about actual learning. Answer and Earn Math Crafts are designed to provide rigorous math practice while keeping the fun intact. They go beyond just a cute final product and ensure that students are deeply engaged with the math content every step of the way.
My other favorite way to review is with a simple room transformation! You can read more about my basketball and baseball math review here.
Ready to Transform Your Math Review?
If you’re looking for fun math review activities that double as engaging math review games, incorporating math crafts could be the perfect solution. Whether it’s test prep, end-of-unit review, or just a way to shake up your routine, these activities make math meaningful, interactive, and enjoyable for students.
Ready to give it a try? Editable Taco Math Craft
This resource is 100% editable. You can add in your own content to meet the needs of your students. Want a version that is ready to go? You can find all our Answer and Earn math crafts inside The Math Teacher Membership and a few are also available on TPT.
