March Madness math is a great addition to your math activities because it engages students in fun, competitive, basketball-themed multiplication activities for Multiplication Madness! Here are 10 common multiplication activities teachers use during this time.
1. March Basketball Tournament
Students answer multiplication problems to “shoot” a basket (paper toss, mini hoop, or digital game). Correct answers earn points, and the class competes in a bracket-style challenge. Draw a bracket on your whiteboard or create a bulletin board with a bracket. Divide kids into teams of 2-3, a question is posed, and students work together to answer it. Only one person can write on the dry erase board per question. Students who answer correctly, get a chance to shoot a trashket (wadded up paper into the garbage). Assign points per basket.
2. March Madness Multiplication Bracket
Students compete in head-to-head multiplication fluency challenges, advancing through a bracket similar to the NCAA tournament. Teacher tip: Have a list of multiplication facts, and cross them off as you use them. This is a great way to end the last 10 minutes of class or to use as an after-recess activity.
3. Multiplication March Madness Math Relay Races
Teams race to solve multiplication problems at different stations, passing a baton (or marker) to the next teammate. Have 5-7 stations set up with signs marking each. Make sure students take their work from the station. Create a page with 5-6 numbered boxes on it (corresponding to each station). This is the group answer sheet. Use what you have in class to create the stations.
4. Multiplication Color-by-Number Basketball Theme
Kids love coloring, and when you add a basketball theme to multiplication math facts activities, it’s a win-win! Great for early finishers, learning centers, and to tell who needs more support. The pictures also make instant March Madness bulletin boards. Find the Basketball Multiplication Coloring Pages (task card & word searches included) here.
5. Roll & Multiply Challenge
- Students roll two dice (or number cubes) and multiply the numbers, racing to fill in a bracket or complete a game board. You can create a tournament bracket that students fill in as they roll or you could create a grid of 5-10 spaces down and 3 across for the numbers rolled and the answers. If students go for higher numbers, it will take them more time to complete the grid. You can either use the fastest finisher (with correct answers) or the finisher with the highest point total (totaling all answers). See this blog post here on even more multiplication games.
6. Fast March Madness Math Facts Shootout
- Use timed multiplication drills where students try to beat their best score each round. Bonus: Use a basketball-themed incentive for motivation. Great for a class that needs to tone down the competition.
7. Multiplication Task Card Scoot
- Students move around the room solving multiplication problems on task cards at different stations. I love putting the cards up around the classroom and partnering up students with a clipboard to add even more fun. You can also have students create the word problems and you select the ones to use. Grab these ready-to-use Multiplication Word Problem Task Cards.
8. Multiplication War and Peace Game
- This multiplication game is best with two players or two teams. Divide a deck of cards evenly between two players or teams. Cards remain face down in one stack. On “Go”, students flip their top card over at the same time. They quickly multiply the numbers on the two cards. The student who yells out the correct product first gets to keep the cards. Face cards all equal 10. Aces equal 11. The game is over when a set time is up or when cards are counted and the player with the most cards wins. To practice multiples of 12, you could assign kings or queens 12 points instead of 10.
9. Multiplication Bingo
- Instead of calling numbers, the teacher calls out multiplication problems, and students mark the correct answer on their Bingo boards. Easy to prep, create 10 versions of the Bingo sheets and have a list of math facts you can cross off as you say them aloud.
10. Multiplication Madness Escape Room
- A digital or printable escape room where students solve multiplication puzzles to “unlock” different rounds of the tournament. You don’t need to buy a specific escape room. Use 5-6 different activities you have in your classroom as challenges.
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