We may have a reluctant reader in this house, but it appears that Monkey likes maths. Clearly gets that from his father and Gramps, and most definitely not from me! Although Monkey knows his numbers well, he still takes a while to work out sums in his head, so I’ve been using the Fundels Multiplications and Playing with Numbers to help build his confidence and speed.
Cartamundi have recently released the Fundels Multiplications and Playing with Numbers sets which are aimed at children aged 6 years and over. They are perfect for children facing SATS in Year 2 at school. The games are fun as well as educational, and we’ve been using them in a number of different ways over the last couple of weeks.
The Fundels Multiplications set, is a double-sided flash card set which comes with instructions for four different games. The games can all be played with 1-4 players.
In the two beginners games it’s all about being the fastest at working out what the answer to the multiplication is and building up your stack of cards.
We’ve played War and Open War working out the answer to various sums and the games have both helped with Monkey’s speed.
As Monkey’s been learning his times tables I’ve tried to show him that a lot of the sums can be turned around to give the same answer. For example, if he learns that 5 x 4 = 20, then he already actually knows that 4 x 5 = 20.
We’ve used the Memory Game option to reinforce this. You lay all the cards ‘sum’ side up, pick on card and work out the answer of the sum and then look for another sum card which would have the same answer. You can play this game against the clock to add another dimension. With Totalito, you again, place the cards ‘sum’ side up, and decide on a number, say 200. Then you need to select the right sums which will add up to that number. So not only are you thinking about multiplication, but addition as well.
We’ve also used these cards for quick fire times tables, picking out all the X 2, 4, 5 etc (note that there are no 1 x or 2 x cards included in the Fundels Multiplications pack) as another way at working on Monkey’s speed of recall. The size of the cards makes them ideal to have in a handbag, and to travel with. Priced at £3.99, I think they’re a great investment.
The Fundels Playing with Numbers game is again aimed at children aged 6 and over, and can be played with 2-4 players. It comes in a neat little plastic carry case, again making it ideal for learning on the go. Along with the playing cards, you receive an instruction card and playing dice.
With this game you are making the highest or lowest number, to win all the cards. It’s all about place values, units, tens and hundreds as you follow the instructions on the dice and decided whether you are trying to go higher or lower to win the game.
Monkey’s preferred to play this game to his own rules, which to be honest, doesn’t both me at all. He’s worked on number sequences, addition and subtraction and has had lots of fun. Really that’s the key. Learning and fun, however it’s achieved.
The Fundels Playing with Numbers set is priced at £9.99, and both games are available from WHSmith, Tesco and John Lewis from the end of the month.
disclosure: we were sent the items mentioned in exchange for an honest review
I’ve teamed up with Cartamundi to offer one lucky reader the chance to win both games featured – Fundels Multiplications and Playing with Numbers. The bundle is worth £13.98. Complete the Gleam form below for your chance to win – good luck!
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Fundels Multiplications and Playing with Numbers bundle worth £13.98
I was totally useless, I was better at English. My daughter is really struggling with her maths at the moment, to the point of crying about it 🙁 this would be really handy so thanks for the giveaway. I have shared it, I hope you don’t mind.
Maths was ok. Found a bit boring as got harder. My son loves learning Maths and is really good at it
I didn’t mind maths but wouldn’t say it was my favourite…now I am a teacher its my favourite subject to teach!
I was alright with maths until I had to take exams in the subject and then it all went wrong and I failed miserably at it.
I was more into Economics, but then went into Statistics
I loved maths at school and always found it easy to grasp right from the very beginning when had some spinners to generate numbers for us to add together!
I was totally useless. I couldn’t wait till I could drop Maths after GCSE’s!
I was great at English but awful at maths – I was even put into the top maths set but struggled terribly. Still am not great at it
I hated maths and still do, I just don’t understand it 🙂
As a kid I struggled with English (Writing) but I really understood and got Maths. So I really liked Maths.
it was my favorite and best subject
I loved maths as a child and found it fun. However in my secondary school the teaching of maths was poor and I did not like maths there.
I hated maths at school, and am still terrible at it! 🙁
learnt times table with reward stars
I loved maths as a child (not as much as history)! Had a great teacher which I think made all the difference.
Maths was my favourite subject at school, especially algebra. I still love numbers but I’m nowhere near as good at them as I used to be
I passed my maths GCSE, but have always found it a challenge, and had to study hard to pass. The numbers game on Countdown always has me beat.
No i didnt like maths. I still dont. I find it quite challenging!
I really disliked Maths as a child, my teacher was not inspirational at all. I got a job 3 years ago at my local collage as a TA at the age of 42. Maths was the one lesson I was dreading being in but i LOVED it. So much so that I am now a Maths Intervention Tutor to underachieving and low ability students and I am also retaking my GCSE at college!
I hated maths, really hated it. My daughter is the same but my son is fantastic at maths, ranking 9th in the country in a schools national maths challenge. He got to visit the House of Lords as a prize.
I hated maths as a child and as an adult now i don’t really mind it.
I liked the practical side of maths- more the arithmetic but when you move into geometry and so on I found it less interesting!
Nope, i absolutely hated Maths! I was much more in to storytelling!
I liked and was good at arithmetic. When it came to maths I was fine till we started algebra etc. I couldn’t see any point in algebra, trigonometry etc. Quickly started watching sports field from classroom window as bored. Now wish teacher could have given us a reason, purpose for maths. Then maybe I would have paid attention, learnt the subject etc.
I was useless in school but it suddenly all fell into place once I was working and I have had a love of numbers ever since
I was really bad at maths as a child and as an adult
I was actually really good in schol, I remember when I was in year 7 I had 100% in a maths exam, my sister is a maths teacher and my brother is good too so it must run in the family.
I was fine at maths when I was at Primary School, but when I moved to Secondary I had a bad teacher for 2 years, who even told my parents there was a personality clash and I was lazy, but he just didn’t explain anything in a way I could understand.
From that time I’ve had quite a phobia of maths and numbers in general, I won’t go near a Sudoku!
I totally loved maths, it was my best subject at school. My mom always had me checking the workings out of the butcher when we went to pick up the meat. Today I love doing Sudoku – when I get the chance.
Years later I still wonder how on earth I got a B!
I was useless 4 attempts at o level but passed in the end
Pretty good now at maths !!!!!!!
I was quite good at maths but I don’t remember any of it now I’m older!
Maths was my favourite subject at school, I was ok but not excellent at maths
I was hopeless at maths when I was young. When I was at school we didn’t have calculators but now I am good at addition & subtraction after 27 years working in a bank!
I hated maths as a kid, still useless at it now!
well I didnt think I was very good at all. I even took algebra and failed. Funny thing is since leaving school it all came back to me and I must say Im pretty good now and even understand algebra
I’ve never been good at Maths. I’m pretty useless at helping my 10 year old with most homework
I’m pitiful where maths is concerned I was graded a G at school 🙁
I was terrible at maths at school, still am! I’m good at my 9 times table though 😉
I hated maths, didn’t enjoy it one bit, it wasnt any easier to have a teacher who is interested in teaching bright kids and not all kids
I was and still am useless at times tables!
I hated maths…really hated it. Turns out, I was never as bad as I believed but my total lack of confidence really badly affected me in in that subject 🙁
I don’t want the same for my little one, so I want to work on maths with him in a fun way so he can’t build up issues like mine when it comes to school
maths is not my good point…. i struggle with fractions and geometry, thankfully my hub is ace at maths and the kids have inherited that gene!! msedollyp x
Ooo this looks like a great way to make maths fun!
I love Maths, my favourite subject at school and I went on to doing a degree in it! It’s my daughter’s favourite subject now which is great, just wish she’d have so much enthusiasm about English too!
I was pretty useless, i’m improving though!
I was hopeless at maths as a child and haven’t improved much.
some maths i got straight away and other parts i struggled with. Our maths teacher had the nickname Eagle Eyed Action man as he could swivel those eyes well if things didn’t go his way!! and we were petrified of him … i think the only class we were all well behaved in lol
I enjoyed maths my teacher was amazing 🙂
I was ok whilst we did adding, subtraction and multiplication, but i could never get the hang of fractions and by the time it came to GCSe maths i was totally lost
i hated maths in school but i needed to pass the gcse to get onto my course so had to go to college to study it and i actually passed gaining a grade c 🙂
I liked sums but could not for the life of me understand graphs and tree diagrams
I used to love maths it was my favourite subject at school
I was ok with maths until we reached algebra…which went totally over my head!
When I was in juniors my teacher played a game called..picky picky. Basically the whole class used to stand up and he would point randomly at a child and ask them a multiplication question. If you got it right you remained standing, if you got it wrong you sat down, this continued until there was only one person left. This helped me so much with my times tables as I didn’t want to be the first to sit down.
useless and still am lol x
Ive always thought that I was useless at maths. If I cant count it on my fingers I give up ha ha. Yet at a recent college open day I had to do a maths test and got 97% the highest in a large group! No idea how ha ha. Fab giveaway. Would be perfect to keep the grandkids busy when I’m on babysitting duty. Fingers x
i didnt do do bad at maths but me and my mates loved the teacher more he wa slush haha
I liked maths but as i got older it did not like me, i was ok at the basics but when it came as advanced as algebra etc i didn’t have a clue !
Didn’t mind maths at school it was geography I hated!
I always did alright at Maths at school but never thought I was any good. My dad spent a lot of time explaining things to me and I just remember constantly asking, ‘But why?’
Took me years to grasp it, but got better as I got older.
I was quite good at maths and luckily my daughter has taken after me 🙂 xx
I was totally rubbish at maths and hated it. And this is still the case to this day.
I was fairly good at Maths at school but I didn’t enjoy learning it very much. I found it pretty boring. Fundels adds a bit more interest to it I reckon?
I loved maths but it helped i had some really good maths teachers
I was totally useless at Maths in school.
I lived maths at school and I’m so proud that my eldest seems to love it too 🙂
I was totally useless at maths, and I still am today, but I am happy to say the children do not have the attitude I do about maths, saying that I am dreading it when they get older and need help with their homework
I loved maths, but I’m useless now after looking at my grandsons homework
I was never good at maths but my little one is starting to enjoy doing little sums
I hated maths
Did ok with some maths at school, never have found a use for algebra though
At primary school I battled with maths, but then I got a teacher who took time to explain it and I rose to the top of my class. I loved it after that.
I really tried & managed to pass my exams, but I’m rubbish now my eldest is sitting his! Can’t recall a thing
I was totally useless
Put it this way, I was in the top English class, top history class, top science class and bottom maths!! I hope my kids don’t follow me lol
I was always a natural at maths but when geometry/trigonometry was introduced I did begin to struggle. Now as a adult of 37 and training to become a quantity surveyor with my work I am being re-introduced to trigonometry at college and it seems a lot simpler to understand than when I was a teenager.
I hated maths until I moved a class and got a lovely teacher and a good teacher that took notice and helped me tremendously she was lovely
I was average
I was so worried when the teacher was asking times tables out loud with the class. I was relieved when my turn came around and it was 6 x 6.
I was and still am totally useless, even though I enjoyed it in school.
At first I was really into maths, but then as I got older I started to dislike it.
I adored maths and still do. I would love my grandchildren to share my passion and fascination for numbers.
I was good at math, but I had other classes I preferred. Though I do enjoy logic and number puzzles.
Horrendous at maths !!!! but my children are much better so far!! I loved English
I had no confidence in maths but was not that bad really. Still a little uncertain about it to be honest!
I loved maths so much I opted to do it instead of PE
Found maths ok wasn’t my first choice I must say. Bt my son loves it probably influenced by the hubby as he’s amazing at it.
I loved maths as a child, my son is also very into maths and my grandchildren are still little so it would be lovely to develop their interest in the subject
I was totally useless at maths and hated the subject.
I was good at maths but unfortunately rules had changed when I was at school as they made sure you worked out the sums their way. I never saw why my workings out were wrong when they led me to the very same answer as theirs so that caused a little problem with my relationship with my maths tutor lol. Made it to 35 with a law degree and various other qualifications and manage to budget my money well and am still using my own methods. Goes to show the teachers don’t know it all after all.
I used to love maths as a child and both my boys do too, but my little girl could do with a little bit of help
I was utter useless, it wasn’t my thing!
I loved “number” maths – we used to have sums on the board daily and have races to complete them – probably would be classed as too competitive these days ! I was hopeless at algebra , problem solving and that type of maths though !
Maths was my favourite and best subject and I even took my maths gcse a year early which is ironic as I have to use a calculator for everything now! X
I wasn’t too bad at maths at school, until we got to calculus anyway. I never understood the point of that.
I was obsessed with maths and got put forward (and completed) a junior degree in Mathematics when I was 12. My middle child has taken after me as well, so proud
I loved maths and did really well in it at school, nowadays I’m not so good
I liked some maths, but not mechanics!
i was pretty good at maths at school ….. totally rubbish now tho! just about holding my own with the 9 year old.
I was always pretty good at it but didn’t enjoy it I much preferred the party subjects which really upset my maths teacher
No, I didn’t really like maths at school but ended up working as a statistics clerk and loved it!
I was into maths 🙂
I enjoyed mental arithmetic and learning the times tables.
I was totally useless and still am. Don’t get it and struggle with simple sums. Am doing all I can to encourage my kiddies.
Maths was never my subject at school. My 8 year old is the exact opposite. He loves maths and he’s a natural.
i really didn’t like maths at all. i coped but was not a favourite of mine.
I am afraid maths wasn’t my strong point and still is! – I always use a calculator
I loved maths at school it was one of my favourite lessons. I stull use it a lot these days as im a civil engineer so do lots of calculations. I am a bit of a geek when it comes to numbers lol. Our children enjoy numbers and im hoping they follows in my footsteps but who knows. At the minute they love learning full stop which is great x
I loved maths but I hated times tables tests! I had a pen with them on and I had it set to the tricky ones 😉
I loved doing maths when i was little, but i was’nt any good at it haha x
I was totally useless at maths, hated trigonometry and looks like my little girl is taking after her mum as struggles.
I did enjoy maths but I would not very good at it ha
I hated Maths, but as an adult and working in a school discovered that I liked the subject after all and ended up teaching it!
I wasn’t good at maths and still I’m still not very good at it
I was and still totally useless at maths, I hated doing those lessons
I loved Maths – still do, the kids come in with their homework and I practically wrestle it off them! They love it!
I absolutely loved Maths, was my favourite subject
i loved maths my dad taught me to play card games involving maths and probability like cribbage and board games like back gammon
I used to love doing long division maths but im useless at it now as it has all changed since i was a child
i wasnt good at maths
Loved it!
I wasn’t “into” Maths but not that rubbish at them. However, I had a teacher who thought if you could add 100000000000000000000000 numbers together and then times them by the same and get the right answer in 2 seconds you were thick. Fast-forward 12 years and he was very shocked to find me in a retail shop taking quite a bit of money each shift. His first comment was “I didn’t take you as a RETAIL person, as you were never very good at Maths”… Shows what he knew.
I loved maths as a child and I still love numbers and maths
Not great if it’s simple maths fine but anything that wasn’t straight forward forget it
I didn’t like maths at all. Not my strongest point xxx
Yes I loved maths especially multiplication x
I was rubbish at maths and i still am so this game would probably help me too 🙂
Mathematics the only TRUE accurate language in the world. Maths was great passed with flying colours in maths at school, went on to get degree in Mathematics and Computing, then an MSC in Operational Research (that’s solving business problems written in a spoken, written language, using various mathematical techniques. Also worked for a large British Blue Chip Telecommunications corporate, working on numerous projects (including international projects in the countries involved) and yes the mathematics came in very handy on multiple occasions. So YES I like MATHEMATICS.
I loved it when I was quite little but began to dislike it more as I got older
I loved Maths.
i was rubbish i look at the work my teenagers do and im lost