Third grade marks an important milestone for students. Standardized testing begins in the spring, meaning your class needs to master the third grade math curriculum before March. As a teacher, you face the challenge of teaching that content and engage your students during class. So how can you make practicing crucial math concepts fun for your students and make sure they master the material?
The answer lies in movement. When students learn new concepts using their whole bodies and brains, new neural pathways are reinforced and connected to muscle memory. Best of all, kids have fun when they move, which improves their behavior during class! Take a look at these third grade math practice floor mats that will get your students moving.
Multiplication Hop
The Multiplication Hop floor mat helps students practice their times tables. Ranging from numbers 1-100, each column shows the product of the numbers multiplied on each side. This floor mat reinforces multiplication facts by representing each set of factors and products on a grid.
Equivalent Fraction Hop
The Equivalent Fraction Hop floor mat teaches students to match fractions that have the same value. Each section of the mat represents fractions with both numbers and shaded squares, circles, and rectangles. That way, students can see what these fractions look like when they’re hopping across the mat!
Skip Counting Mats with Third Grade Math Activities
Math & Movement’s Skip Counting Mats are based on the six basic math movements central to our program. Combined with whisper-loud movements, skip counting teaches multiplication skills by associating movement and speech with multiples of specific numbers. Each floor mat covers the multiples of a number up to twelve, as well as the numbers in between multiples.
While you can easily develop your own games and activities for Skip Counting, here’s one of our favorite third grade math practice games for skip counting by 6:
- Stand on the START HERE block.
- Use whisper/loud counting and jump to each multiple of 6 when you shout it out.
- For example, whisper, “One, two, three, four, five” and shout, “Six!” while jumping to the 6 block.
- Continue down the mat until you reach the end.
For more activities like this, check the free activity guide that comes with your purchase of any Skip Counting Mat.
You can find all of our third grade floor mats on our website. For individual desk work, consider ordering any of these mats as a sticker. Please contact us with any questions about our mats or for more information about getting started with Math & Movement.