How to Play
You'll need:- Bee Fact Cards (Find them here!)
- Mixed Number Grid Cards (Find them here!)
- Counters in Two Colors (to represent flowers )
- Step 1: Place a bee fact card and a number grid card between two players.
- Step 2: One player selects a number from the grid and follows the bee card’s direction (e.g., +5).
- Step 3: They say the equation aloud (e.g., "19 + 5 = 24").
- Step 4: The other player confirms accuracy—teamwork in action!
- Step 5: If correct, the player adds a flower (counter) to the garden.
- Step 6: The next player repeats the process with a new number.
Play continues until the whole garden is filled with flowers!
This activity is:
- Quick & Easy Prep – Just print, grab some counters, and you're set!
- Collaborative & Engaging – Students take turns, help each other, and build confidence.
- Fact Fluency Building – A playful way to practice addition and subtraction within 20.
- An Extension Opportunity – Have students record their math facts on a whiteboard or in their math journal to deepen learning.
Review & Reinforce Learning
After playing, teachers can use one of the worksheets from this Addition to 20 pack (Find it here!) to further support student learning.This pack has been carefully designed to help students develop mental math strategies, which directly connect to the skills used in the Bee Garden warm-up. If students are relying on counting by ones, using fingers, or needing manipulatives to solve equations, these worksheets provide targeted practice in strategies like counting on, making ten, and recognizing number patterns.
For example, the Bunny Hopping Along the Garden Path worksheet visually reinforces counting on a number line, helping students build a mental number path—a key skill for moving beyond finger counting. By using these worksheets, students can gain confidence and fluency in recognizing and solving number relationships more efficiently.
This math warm-up is a great way to start a lesson, reinforce fact fluency, or simply bring some math joy into your classroom!
