Math Fact Practice Activity

Math fact fluency is such an important skill. Having automaticity with basic math facts frees up room in students working memory. This means they have more room for problem solving and higher level math.

I feel like each year I have more and more students come to me without knowing their basic facts. I see students use inefficient methods that lead to procedural errors. I see students get frustrated with more challenging math problems because they are working so hard to process the basic math facts in the problem.

How Can I Increase Math Fact Mastery?

I had to do something to increase my students mastery of math facts in all four operations. Let’s face it, we all know rote memorization isn’t the most exciting part of education. Going through a stack of flashcards wasn’t engaging enough to make my students want to practice. A worksheet with columns of problems wasn’t any better.

However, my students always love coloring, and they really love color by number or mystery picture activities. So, I combined the two to make a math fact practice activity that combined the practicality of flashcards with high interest, engaging color by number worksheets.

Math Fact Masterpiece

I am calling these activities “Math Fact Masterpieces“. The kids practice math facts and at the end of the activity they will have created a “masterpiece” as the hidden picture is revealed on the color by number grid.

So far, my students have been LOVING these! They are motivated by the color by number aspect of the activity and get really excited as they begin to see the hidden picture appear.

How Does it Work?

All the teacher needs to do it print out the flashcards and Math Fact Masterpiece grids. Each coloring worksheet is labeled with a number and the corresponding flashcards are labeled with the same number so it is easy to keep the right items together.

Students flip over one flashcard and answer the math fact. Then, they find that answer on the worksheet grid. They will color in the box(es) the color that is written on the math fact flashcard.

Once students have gone through the stack of 32 flashcards, and have colored in all the corresponding squares, they will see a hidden picture appear.

Try it for Free!

If this activity sounds like something your kids would enjoy, you can try it for free! Head on over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and grab one of my Math Fact Masterpiece products for FREE!

Want More?

I am building my collection of Math Fact Masterpiece activities, and am adding them to my Teachers Pay Teachers shop as I finish them. Right now, I have two sets available.

Set #1 has a food theme. The hidden picture images included in this set are a hamburger, pizza, a cupcake and a donut.

Set #2 has an animal theme. The hidden pictures in this set are a fish, a bird, a cat and a hedgehog.

Do you have any fun ways to help students practice and mastery their basic math facts? I would love to hear your ideas!