Even and odd activities can help students gain a strong number sense. Compared to last year, I have taught even and odd numbers more thoroughly this year. I really studied the standard to help deepen my kiddos understanding of even and odd numbers. My result: they are more ready for multiplication than they were last year! Give these activities a try to deepen your students’ understanding.
We started off with the Grab and Go exploring game from my even and odd freebie packet.
Grab and Go is fun because you can use any type of counters: candy, cubes, paperclips, etc. The students love seeing how many counters they can grab at once! The questions they are required to answer really pick their brain so they realize the true meaning of even numbers.
After exploring with numbers for a bit, I focused on these strategies for identifying even numbers:
1. Can you count by 2s or pair up by 2s?
2. Can you split the number into equal groups?
3. Is there a doubles fact that equals the number? (two equal groups)
4. Does the number end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8?
My decision to go deeper than just looking at the ones place of a number really paid off. These kiddos are so quick with splitting numbers into equal groups! This even and odd activity will be so helpful when multiplication comes up.
Even and Odd Numbers Activities
The biggest hit from the even and odd activities was BUDDY BALL!
All you need is cotton balls, cups, and whiteboards. Here is how it works:
Partner the students up into pairs. I used this as a teaching moment for even and odd……If everyone did not have a partner, we knew we must have an odd number in the class! Then I set the timer for 1 minute. One student holds the cup while the other tosses the cotton balls into the cup. When the timer goes off, the students work together to count their “points” by pairing up the cotton balls by 2. They had to count by twos, or their points didn’t count! They record their score on whiteboards and tell if it is even or odd. Partners switch roles, and play again!
We even spiced it up a little and made each cotton ball worth 2 points. They loved it!
Once the kiddos had plenty of hands-on practice and were comfortable with the concept, we learned the quickest way to determine if numbers are odd or even: looking at the ones place. For this even and odd activity, we used this fun song:
After singing the song, I would shout out a number and the students would “moo” or “oink” to tell if the number is even cow or odd pig.
I recently just got done teaching arrays, and gave a little preview of multiplication. Giving the kiddos all of this hands-on even and odd activities really deepened their understanding of the concept. Check out my Even and Odd Freebie for more games and quick checks for even and odd numbers!
Next, we are moving onto shapes and fractions. Check out this blog post with fun activities for teaching place value!
