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THE FLEA!
Skogsbackeskolan
Karlstad
Age:
7-12 years old

Aims:
To practice mental calculation with subtraction and addition with a calculator

Materials:
(Gunilla, our needlework teacher has made this game!)
A piece of cloth with plastic pockets in different geometric shapes (you sew them on the cloth, 5 colored buttons, one bigger button, which is the flea, small pieces of paper (you can see 9 yellow in the picture and 5 orange).


Introduction:
It's a game you can play independent of your age but you need to play it in pairs. It's your responsibility as a teacher to decide which level your pupils can manage.
First you have to make the playing board in cloth (about 42x50). You make small pockets (for example 9) in plastic and in different geometrical shapes. Then you have 5 colored buttons. On the small pieces of paper ( yellow) you write the number you are suppose to subtract from the number on the orange pieces of paper.
Before you start the game: Look at picture number one! You put the 5 buttons in a row at the bottom of the playing board together with the orange piece of paper.
Look at picture number 2! Then you take the bigger button (the flea) and press it on the smaller buttons so it flies away and hopefully lands or touches the plastic pocket with the yellow numbers on.

Main part:
One pupil starts to press the flea on any colored button, (but you have to do all five). The number, the button touches or lands on, you subtract from the number you find on the orange papers. You say the result out loud and your playmate checks the result on the calculator.

If your result is correct you write it down. If it's wrong you get zero points. Then you do the rest and now you are supposed to have 5 numbers and you add them all. The one who gets the highest number is the winner.

Round up:
Here you can choose between the four rules of arithmetic you want