Dividing Fractions Games to Build Your Student’s Confidence in Math

The division of fractions is typically one of the last skills that students learn as they work on fractions. But that doesn’t mean that dividing fractions isn’t a challenging concept for students to master.

Luckily, there are lots of tools out there to help build your students’ confidence as they learn the division of fractions. 

From online games to board games to apps to other fraction activities, there are options for teachers and homeschool parents alike. 

In this article, we’ll go over six of the best games and activities to help students grasp dividing fractions in the classroom and practice at home.

Dividing fractions is an important math skill to learn, but with so many different learning styles in a single classroom, it can be difficult to find the best way to teach this skill. 

You want your lessons to resonate with all your students, which often means you need multiple avenues for learning. 

But don’t worry! You don’t have to create every one of these avenues. There are lots of dividing fraction games available for teachers to use as teaching tools. 

Using these tools, it will be so much easier for you to help every student create a solid understanding and foundation in math class.

Prodigy Math is a great option to provide individualized learning as students journey through the game at their own pace. This game is geared towards students from 1st to 8th grade and breaks down the steps of math problems. It also provides students with immediate feedback on their progress.

You can choose to set specific assignments that work on what you’re teaching in the classroom. These assignments will be automatically graded, taking that task off your plate. 

Or you can just let students play and have the game do the lesson planning for you. The curriculum was developed to be aligned with educational standards, so you can rest assured that your students are learning exactly what they should be. 

Division of fractions is just one skill that Prodigy Math works on. The game will monitor how well they seem to grasp this and other concepts and challenge them with harder problems as they master each skill. 

The Dividing Fractions Basketball game is a fun and interactive math game, especially for those students that love sports. 

This game will encourage players to practice division problems of one- and two-integers with proper and improper fractions. Players compete for baskets and extra points with correct answers and some quick clicks of the mouse. 

Dividing Fractions Basketball even matches common core math standards for most states, so you can feel good about adding it to your lesson plan.

You may choose to have students play this game independently or project it in the front of your classroom. If you’re playing as a whole class, you can split the room into two teams that are competing against each other.

The Dividing Knockout game is a perfect game to get the whole class involved in solving questions via whiteboards. 

To play, students answer fraction problems displayed on a projector or over video conference if you are doing remote learning. Or you could make this printable by printing the PowerPoint slides. While this won’t be exactly the same, it’s a good option if you don’t have the right technology in your classroom. 

You can divide students into teams and have one player from each team face off in a head-to-head race to find the answer the fastest. Or you can have the whole class race one another. 

This game will also help you evaluate, quickly and in real time, how well each student is doing. And you won’t just be giving a run-of-the-mill test to get this information. This fun way to evaluate their skills will keep the whole class engaged and on the edge of their seats.

Dividing Fractions Paper Chains is a fun and creative printable activity. You can choose to have students work together or independently as they make these chains. 

Students will need to solve a series of dividing fractions problems in order to correctly assemble their chains. The answer to one problem can be found on the next chain. Students will then glue one piece of paper to the next to make the chain. 

This activity is great for the early introduction stages of dividing fractions. The problems are simple, and the art aspect keeps learning engaging and exciting.  

The linked option above is to buy the activity already assembled, but you could also easily make this activity yourself. And then you would be able to customize it to your class or even to each student. You can make the problems more or less difficult based on their level of understanding.

If you’re looking for more interactive gameplay, Fraction Fling may be just the game for you. 

In Fraction Fling, students fling a ball at a target with a fraction on it. When they hit the target, they have to divide the fraction by a whole number to find the quotient.

Or you can reverse it so that the students must divide a whole number by unit fractions, division expressions, and related values. By mixing this activity up, they work on their number sense.

This game will get students moving while their brains are working. And maybe get out some extra energy!

It’s an effective option for younger students to help solidify early concepts, but also works for older kids in 5th grade and 6th grade that are mastering this skill. It’s easy to tweak and make it more or less difficult.

Creating an escape room activity that requires dividing fractions to escape is another math game idea. 

With this activity, you challenge students to solve puzzles and escape a room or complete a mission. Most escape rooms are themed, so you can pick a common interest for your students or base it on what the students are learning in other classes. 

The puzzles can be adapted to your classroom’s learning level, making it just challenging enough to be fun. You could also include graphing word problems, decimals conversion, or any other math skill. It is endlessly customizable. 

Whether you're teaching in person or in a google classroom, escape rooms can be a really engaging activity that keeps students excited to learn. 

If you’re not sure how to make your first escape room or just don’t have time to put it together, there are also pre-made options you can buy online. 

When it comes to teaching fractions, subtracting fractions, multiplying fractions and dividing fractions, it is best to build a strong foundation early on.

In 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade, students should primarily focus on identifying parts of the fraction. This includes knowing vocabulary like denominators or mixed numbers. This early work will prepare them for middle school math.

Using real-world examples can help students see the ‘why’ behind what they are learning and help the concepts make more sense. Word problems give some examples of real life applications, but you can also encourage brainstorming sessions where students think of all the ways they use fractions. 

Examples of real-life examples of dividing fractions is dividing a pizza amongst friends or a recipe with measurements that are written as fractions. It’s also used when calculating miles traveled per hour or knowing how many walls you can paint with the paint that’s left in the can. 

There are so many places where fractions can be seen in real life. You’re sure to think of lots more with your students!

Another helpful tidbit is simply to show students how the division of fractions is simply the inverse of the multiplication of fractions. Seeing the connection between the two concepts makes the new skill seem much more manageable and speeds up the learning process. 

And finally, practice, practice, practice. 

As with any math concept, practice is essential for mastery. And using a variety of practice methods, from worksheets to math games, will be much more effective at keeping the learner engaged. 

No matter what method of practice your students prefer, try to provide feedback and support as often as possible. Practicing the correct way the first time will help students master this skill faster.