Cover Factors & Multiples
Math Concepts
Multiplication, factors, multiples up to 30
Materials
Game board, 2 colors of tokens
Players
2
Set up
Have a board of numbers from 1 to 30. Use two kinds of tokens– a single token reserved for “The Previous Move,” and a group of other tokens.
Play
The first player gets to pick any number and cover it with The Previous Move Token (TPMT). After that, a player replaces TPMT with the other type of token and moves TPMT to any number that is a factor or multiple of the number from TPMT’s previous location.
For example, if TPMT is on 15, then TPMT can be moved to any one of 1, 3, 5, or 30 if they are uncovered.
Goal
The losing player is the one forced to cover the number 1
Discussion and Tips
As children get better at this game, they will discover they need to make some restrictions on the first move. The most basic rule is that the first move cannot be on a prime number in the upper half of the numbers discuss why this rule is important.
Variations
Adjust the range of numbers for the skill level of the players- you can use 1 to 24, 1 to 48, or even 1 to 60.