Description
How it works
This one is cooperative rather than competitive. Players place two paper clips on factors along the bottom to make a product in the left-hand column and cover it. Then they choose which single clip to move to reach the next product to the right, going horizontally or diagonally — never vertically or backwards. If no move produces the needed product, it is back to Start. Getting all the way across is genuinely satisfying, and because only one clip moves per turn, children have to plan two or three steps ahead.
What you’ll need
- The printable Multiplication Pathways game board
- Two paper clips
- Counters
Skills practiced
Multiplication facts, working backwards from a product to its factors, and planning a sequence of moves.
Grade level
3rd through 5th grade. The factors and products can be changed to target a particular fact set; allowing both clips on one number brings in the squares.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions and printable board adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
