Fun Math Games for 4th and 5th Graders (Free)
Five free daily math games, four no-prep games and three brain teasers with answers for grades 4 and 5, plus what each one teaches and where to start.
· 8 min read
Prep guides for grades 4–5: Math Kangaroo 3–4 Math Kangaroo 5–6 MOEMS Div E
Free practice for grades 4–5: Math Kangaroo 3–4 Math Kangaroo 5–6 Noetic 4 Noetic 5 MOEMS Div E CML 4 CML 5
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The best math games for 4th graders and 5th graders make a child plan the next move, so they practice thinking along with arithmetic. Below are five free daily games, four games that need nothing but a pencil or a deck of cards, three brain teasers with answers, and the skill each one builds. Every game here works for both grades; the difference is which day or which version you start with.
Free math games for 4th and 5th graders: MEC Games
MEC Games is our set of five browser games for kids. The basics:
- A new puzzle every day at midnight Eastern, the same one for everyone.
- Free, no account. Progress and streaks are saved in your browser only.
- A timer runs while they play. Each Hint adds 30 seconds.
- Difficulty climbs through the week: Sunday and Monday are easy, Tuesday to Thursday medium, Friday and Saturday hard.
| Game | What your child does | What it practices |
|---|---|---|
| Hit the Target | Combines five number tiles with + − × ÷ to make a target | Mental math, order of operations |
| Stack Attack | Fills in a number pyramid | Addition, subtraction, working backward |
| Grid Lock | Fills a grid so no number repeats and each cage makes its target | Arithmetic, logical reasoning |
| Clue Crew | Uses clues to match people and things in a logic grid | Deduction, careful reading |
| Times Trail | Answers times-table facts to hop along a trail | Multiplication and division facts |
Hit the Target
Tap a tile, a sign, then another tile: the two join into one new tile with the answer. Answers must be whole numbers above 0. Reach the target with the fewest tiles possible for ★★★; one extra tile earns ★★☆.
Example (not a real daily puzzle): tiles 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, target 58. One way is (5 + 3) × 7 + 2, which uses four tiles. The three-star way is 7 × 8 = 56, then 56 + 2 = 58. Hunting for the shorter route is where the thinking happens.
Easy days use tiles from 1 to 10 and targets from 10 to 50, with no division needed. Hard days add one big tile (25, 50, 75 or 100) and targets from 100 to 250.
Stack Attack
Every brick is the sum of the two bricks under it. Some bricks you add up to; others you find by working down. If the top brick is 20 and one brick under it is 8, the other must be 12. A small example:
| Row | Bricks |
|---|---|
| Top | 20 |
| Middle | 8 · ? |
| Bottom | 3 · ? · ? |
20 − 8 = 12, then 8 − 3 = 5, then 12 − 5 = 7. The pyramids have 4 rows Sunday to Wednesday and 5 rows Thursday to Saturday.
Grid Lock
Each row and column uses every number once. Numbers inside an outlined cage must make the cage’s target: 5+ means they add to 5, 6× means they multiply to 6. Sunday and Monday are 4×4 grids with addition only. Tuesday to Thursday add some subtraction and multiplication. Friday and Saturday are 5×5 with all four operations. A Notes mode lets kids pencil in the options for a square, which is the habit that cracks the hard days.
Clue Crew
A short story, a list of clues and a grid. Tap a square once for ✗ (no), twice for ✓ (yes). Sunday to Thursday match four people to four things; Friday and Saturday use five. The hint doesn’t give the answer: it tells your child which clue to read again.
Times Trail
Type the answer to each times-table fact to hop to the next stone; the facts get harder along the trail. A missed fact shows its answer and comes back once at the end, and the hint gives a trick instead of the answer. Sunday and Monday use ×2, ×3, ×5 and ×10; Tuesday to Thursday ×2 to ×9; Friday and Saturday ×6 to ×12, with some missing-number (7 × ? = 56) and division facts. The Practice tab drills any table, for example the 7 times table, and never changes the streak.
Where to start: these work as math puzzles for fourth graders and fifth graders alike. A 4th grader should begin on a Sunday or Monday and move up once the easy days take under five minutes. A confident 5th grader can go straight to Friday’s Grid Lock and Hit the Target.
Fun math games to play at home (no prep)
Race to 20
Two players start at 0 and take turns adding 1 or 2 to the running total. Whoever says 20 wins. Play five rounds, then ask: “Which numbers do you want to say?” The winning totals are 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 20, so the first player can always win by saying 2. Once they see it, change the rules: race to 30 adding 1, 2 or 3.
Card Target
Use a deck with the face cards taken out (ace = 1). Deal four cards, then flip two more to make a two-digit target. Each player tries to hit it with + − × ÷, using as few of the four cards as possible. With 3, 5, 8, 9 and target 37: 5 × 8 = 40, then 40 − 3 = 37.
Greatest Product
Each player draws four digits and arranges them as a two-digit number times a two-digit number. Biggest product wins. With 2, 4, 6 and 8, a natural first try is 84 × 62 = 5,208. The best is 82 × 64 = 5,248: big digits in the tens places, then keep the two numbers close in size. Let them check with a calculator, then ask why it works.
Guess My Number
Pick a number from 1 to 100. Your child asks yes-or-no questions (“Is it even?”, “Is it more than 50?”) and counts them. Halving the range each time finds any number in at most 7 questions. Questions about factors (“Is it a multiple of 3?”) are allowed, and they build number sense along the way.
Math brain teasers for 5th graders (with answers)
Three original fun math problems with answers. Let your child try each one before reading the answer.
- Mirror miles. A car’s odometer shows 2,992 miles, which reads the same forward and backward. What is the fewest miles the car must drive until the odometer shows another number like that? Answer: 11. From 2,993 to 3,002, the first and last digits never match, so none of those read the same backward. The next one that does is 3,003, and 3,003 − 2,992 = 11.
- Bike shop. A shop has 12 bicycles and tricycles with 29 wheels in all. How many tricycles? Answer: 5. If all 12 were bicycles there would be 24 wheels. Each tricycle adds one more wheel, and 29 − 24 = 5.
- Page numbers. How many digits does it take to number the pages of a 60-page book? Answer: 111. Pages 1 to 9 use 9 digits; pages 10 to 60 are 51 pages with 2 digits each, 102 digits. 9 + 102 = 111.
What each game builds
| Skill | Games that use it | Where it shows up in contest problems |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplication facts | Times Trail, Greatest Product | Fast, accurate arithmetic inside longer problems |
| Flexible mental math | Hit the Target, Card Target | Multi-step arithmetic done in your head |
| Working backward | Stack Attack, Race to 20 | “She ended with 14 stickers. How many did she start with?” |
| Logical deduction | Clue Crew, Grid Lock | Logic and arrangement problems |
| Trying cases in order | Greatest Product, Grid Lock notes | Counting problems and “how many ways” questions |
| Asking good questions | Guess My Number | Narrowing a word problem down to the facts that matter |
A 10-minute routine that sticks
- School days: one MEC Game at breakfast or before screen time. Let your child pick which one.
- Weekends: one home game with a parent or sibling. Race to 20 and Greatest Product fit in a car ride.
- Sundays: the free Problem of the Week arrives by email, one original contest-style problem with the solution a week later.
Keep a simple rule: no hints for the first two minutes, then hints are fine. The timer and streak do the motivating; you don’t need to.
When your child wants more
When the daily games feel easy, a set of contest-style problems is the next step. Each free set has ten original problems with solutions, on a page and as a printable PDF:
- Grade 4: Noetic Grade 4, CML Grade 4, Math Kangaroo Grades 3–4, MOEMS Division E
- Grade 5: Noetic Grade 5, CML Grade 5, Math Kangaroo Grades 5–6, MOEMS Division E
- Every grade and contest: free math competition practice problems
Not sure which contest fits? See the best math competitions for 4th graders and for 5th graders. For more puzzles, read fun logic puzzles that build math competition skills; teachers can use math games for the classroom. Every game we’ve written up, sorted by grade and skill, is in free math games for kids.
This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Noetic Learning. “Noetic Learning Math Contest” is a trademark of its respective owners. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Continental Mathematics League. “Continental Mathematics League” is a trademark of its respective owners. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Math Kangaroo USA or Kangourou sans Frontières. “Math Kangaroo” is a trademark of its respective owners. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS®). “MOEMS” is a trademark of its respective owners.
Today’s puzzles are waiting at MEC Games. Start with whichever one your child picks.