Commutative

Number line

To get to understand the number line better, mark out a line on the playground or on the sidewalk outside your house with chalk. At the middle of the line, write 0 (zero). Going one way alone the line from zero, write the positive numbers a step apart (1, 2, 3, 4, 5...) and going the other way write the negative numbers (-1, -2, -3, -4, -5). Then one person can call out math problems (addition or subtraction), while the other person acts them out by walking along the line. When the actor makes a mistake, you can trade places. Experiment with both positive and negative numbers: try to trick each other.

You can play a different game with raisins or cookies, or with marbles or rocks. Have four people each sit down with five cookies. Go around the circle taking turns asking another player for a certain number of cookies. Say how many cookies that person has left. Say how many you have now. If you make a mistake, you have to give the person you took them from a cookie.