Division Games and Activities

5's:

Your child should know their 5's (multiplication facts). It is vital that they know these multiplication facts because they will be a huge help in division.

First, practice reading multiplication / division problems and rewrite them into a division problem. So, 3 x 9 = 27 can become 27 / 9 = 3.

There are several strategies for solving any division problems with the divisor of 5:

The best way to explain is to show an example.

Look at: 30/5 .......Here are some ways to solve this problem:

(1). By looking at the divisor you know this is a 5 fact.

(2). I might think of the hands on a clock (clock facts) , how they increase by 5. When the clock is on 4 it is 20 after, so the answer is 4. So 20/5=4

(3). I might simply use the strategy of skip counting by fives. 4 groups of 5=20, so 20/5=4

Crazy Math Mom Tip

You can use a calculator (there is one on your cell phone) to play some division games. Repeated subtraction is division, so I have my children type in a large number that ends in 5 or 0 on the calculator. Next, we see how many 5's we have to subtract to get to 0. Once you subtract one 5 you can simply press the = sign to add another 5, and so on.

FUN FACT:
If you want to know whether a number can be evenly divided by five look at the number's last digit. If the last digit is a zero or a five, then the number is divisible by five. 1,573,740 ends in zero so it is divisible by five. Since 23 ends in three, it isn't divisible by five. This is a cool math trick!

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