My four biggest tips are:
1. Start as early in the games as a student needs to feel truly comfortable. This may be in the Number Properties games.
2. Stay in the step by step sequence. It is fine to omit individual games when a student already understands the concept.
3. Read out loud from the script printed on each game when you are first demonstrating play. The script for each game explicitly directs students’ attention to fundamental ideas that they already have learned. The game then encourages them to synthesize these ideas to build a concept.
4. For retention after learning, give an individual student frequent access to practice tools. The best practice tools make a student feel comfortable solving problems by using the concept they learned in the game. Some students feel best with untimed problem sets because they want to be able to complete work that is assigned to them. Other students feel best with timed problem sets because they want to know what time they will be allowed to stop working.
Also:
If learners are adding by counting, they need an earlier game
Do we have to play every game in order?
What if a learner says a game is too easy?
Using the games as paper and pencil activities
Learning aids are supplementary resources
What if your curriculum uses different terminology?
More resources for transfer and retention
Using the games in schools
Fitting the games into a class schedule
Parents and other volunteers in the classroom
Using the games outside schools
Community volunteering outside the classroom
Homeschooling and supplementary home use
August 18, 2020; updated October 16, 2025