Contributed by Denise McGill, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

The days of going over and over tedious flash cards have ended!

There is a new generation of fun math games for today’s students.

From learning how to count money on a “not so traditional” Bingo game to “adding it all up” on a fun arcade-style game, your child will be anxious to get his math homework done. These games are the next level to learning and retaining math skills starting from an early age.

Here is a list of top ten fun math games and puzzles every student, teacher and parent can “count” on.

10. Egg carton math

Brightly colored eggs will catch the attention of any young child especially when shaken in an egg carton math kit! Choose an egg and solve the math problem. Perfect for children just learning early math skills, telling time, and recognizing coins. This is a great example of a game that is played by solving math problems – making math fun.

9. Foam puzzles

Foam puzzle pieces, like this lizard puzzle, interconnect to form hundreds of various patterns and shapes. Creative play encourages a child to stretch their imagination and explore spatial concepts at the same time. Mom won’t care when these lizards come into the house to play.

8. 3-D puzzles

After graduating from two-dimensional foam puzzles, let your child or student try their hand with tiles and cubes to form three-dimensional puzzles. Sharpens reasoning skills and includes various levels of mastery! With numerous combination possibilities, shapes of various sizes and dimensions are limitless.

7. Dominoes

Dominate with dominoes! A fun math game can be played with dominoes or special board games based upon the numbered rectangles. In one domino board game, players complete squares and conquer territories using reasoning and calculation. Players must be quick and on their toes to dominate the board.

6. Dice

Toss the dice and let them fall where they may. Whether for home schooling or in the classroom, special 6-sided teaching dice add up in a hurry. For early beginners, start with a set of two and for more advanced math pros use all five dice.

5. Board games

Board games teach math skills while entertaining your kids. For example, Knock Out & Muggins is two games in one board! This two-sided game board teaches mathematical skills on one side and critical thinking on the other. Muggins focuses on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while Knock-out tests students on their analytical skills. Coming in at # 5 of the list – it looks like board games are here to stay.

4. Bingo

Help a child learn to count money and give the correct change by playing bingo or games like Bingo Money. Call out different coin combinations and watch a child eagerly fill up his or her card. Maybe kids will be better at saving their allowance for that special treat.

3. Other games

Unique games with fun game parts, challenging rules and math themes are always a hit. Set the timer and fill this professor’s head with dice to create math equations that boggle the mind. With Head Full of Numbers, the player that builds the most equations wins. A fun math game that Einstein himself would approve of!

2. Arcade games

OK…you had to know arcade style games were coming in at the top ten somewhere. Arcade-themed games like the Math Shark are winners at teaching math and creating fun. Math Shark is a hand-held game that displays math equations with multiple choice answers. Your child or student won’t be able to resist picking up this beeping, flashing numbers game. However, set time limits for those long road trips. Math Shark could be too much of a good thing.

1. Multiple themes

At #1 on the list are math games that combine learning math skills with other important lessons. For example, “Count & Seek Pet House” teaches a child basic math skills, but uses pet care as their ingenious method! A child picks their favorite pet pawn to move around the game board and learns essential animal care skills on the way.

Perhaps little Susie will take the dog for a walk after finishing her math homework.