Create a buzzing community of young mathematicians with a healthy and compelling sense of classroom competition.
Are you looking for an engaging way to build your students’ understanding of arithmetic and a fun way of building the profile and love of math(s) in your school? Number Hive was designed by a math(s) teacher to do just that. He used it over the years to help his students develop their mathematical fluency and deepen their understanding of numbers. The results were huge.
As the use of Number Hive grows across the world, so too are Number Hive class and school tournaments.
You too can recreate that same fun and compelling approach. We’ve made it easy with a downloadable tournament poster and these simple instructions.
And the best part? It’s so much fun that your students won’t even notice that they’re learning!
Here’s how you can use Number Hive to create a tournament in your classroom:
- Download our tournament poster (here) or create your own to track the winners. You can use a spreadsheet if you prefer.
- Make sure all students know the rules of the game (click here for further information on how to play). Decide whether you will be playing a single match or best of three. We find a best of three really build up the class engagement, but if you’re short of time, a single match achieves the same. Or you can mix it up, and have single matches in the heats, and best of three in the semi finals and finals.
- Write each player’s name (students that opt into the tournament) on the outside line of the tournament poster. Students will then find their opponent and set up a game of Number Hive using the “play a friend” option or the offline paper version.
- The winning player progresses inwards to the next game and plays against another winner. The losing player can either support their champion, find another person who is no longer in the tournament to play against or practice against the AI bot.
- The grand final takes place when there are only two players left. You can make it extra special by having the final game played on the big screen. Once there is only one player left, they become the Number Hive class champion (until the next tournament of course!)
Our Top Tips:
Amplify the fun
Make each game exciting for the whole class by running the tournament on the big screen. You can have regular games live on the screen, or just the finals.
Involve the whole school
Encourage the champions from each class to play against each other to find the grand champion.
New to Number Hive?
Number Hive is a great way to engage your students in learning and help them develop a deep understanding of arithmetic. By playing this game, students will learn important skills such as reasoning, strategic thinking, and problem-solving. Plus, it’s a fun and exciting way to learn, which means that your students will be motivated and engaged throughout the entire tournament. Encourage students to play the app in their own time in order to improve for next time. It’s free, there’s no ads and no in-app communication.
You can access the Number Hive App for any device, or a link to play online below:
And if you take any photos of the tournament and have appropriate permission (or blur faces), we’d love to see them! You can share them on social media or even send them to us. We’d also appreciate your feedback on what worked (or didn’t work) in your tournament.
So what are you waiting for?
Give Number Hive a try and watch your students’ mathematical skills soar!
For more ideas and resources, visit: https://www.numberhive.app/
Not enough computers to get everyone online? Try the Number Hive Printable version.
Due to popular demand, we’ve created sets of printable hives to download, print and play in class. Perfect for the BTC classroom or collaborative learning.
We’ve compiled 10 multiplication, and 10 addition game boards along with some of our favourite mathematics resources classrooms love to use. Get access to these resources for free and start your students journey to building mathematics mastery.