Measuring games

Explore measurement across grades. Choose by skill and readiness; the grades are a starting point, and this collection does not cover a whole curriculum.

Each game explains the Common Core connection it supports, or identifies itself as supplemental practice. Schools may teach topics in a different sequence. Read how we choose games.

Browse by Common Core domain: Operations and Algebraic Thinking · Number and Operations in Base Ten.

Grade 1: O'clock and half past

In this game each card describes where the hands on a clock are pointing. Children match it to the time it shows, such as 4 o'clock or half past 4. Reading the description and picturing the clock is good practice for drawing the hands themselves.

Supports part of Common Core 1.MD.B.3: telling time in hours and half-hours on analog clocks. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 1.MD.B.3. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play O'clock and half past · Free printable

Grade 1: Days of the week and months of the year

In this game children put days and months in order, like a timeline. The week starts on Monday, as it does on most UK calendars and diaries, and the year starts in January. The Quick quiz asks which day or month comes next.

Calendar enrichment, not a Common Core standard.

Play Days of the week and months of the year · Free printable

Grade 2: Telling the time to five minutes

In this game each card describes where the hands are pointing, and children match it to the time it shows, such as quarter past 7, 20 to 6 or 5 past 9. Picturing the hands helps children draw them correctly too.

Supports part of Common Core 2.MD.C.7: telling time to the nearest five minutes. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 2.MD.C.7. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Telling the time to five minutes · Free printable

Grade 2: Choosing units: cm, m, g, kg, ml and liters

In this game children decide which unit they would use to measure everyday things, such as the length of a pencil, the mass of a bag of potatoes or the water in a bath. Choosing the right unit is the first step before estimating and measuring.

Supports part of Common Core 2.MD.A.1: choosing tools and units. This game uses metric units only, not inches, feet or pounds. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 2.MD.A.1. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Choosing units: cm, m, g, kg, ml and liters · Free printable

Grade 3: 12-hour and 24-hour clock

In this game children match 12-hour times to the same time on a 24-hour clock, from 00:05 just after midnight to 23:50 late in the evening. Matching both ways builds the habit of adding or taking away 12 for afternoon and evening times.

Enrichment: the 24-hour clock is not part of Common Core, but it is used on timetables and devices around the world.

Play 12-hour and 24-hour clock · Free printable

Grade 3: Perimeter

In this game children find the perimeter of rectangles, squares and triangles. The lengths are given in centimeters, and every answer comes with the working, so children can see how the sides were added.

Supports part of Common Core 3.MD.D.8: finding the perimeter of polygons from their side lengths. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 3.MD.D.8. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Perimeter · Free printable

Grade 3: Days in each month and leap years

In this game children sort the twelve months into those with 31 days, those with 30 days, and February, which has 28 days, or 29 in a leap year. A leap year comes about every four years: 2024 and 2028 are leap years.

Calendar enrichment, not a Common Core standard.

Play Days in each month and leap years · Free printable

Grade 3: Area by counting squares

In this game children find the area of rectangles and L-shapes drawn on squared paper, where each square is 1 cm². Counting in rows, rather than one square at a time, is quicker and more accurate.

Supports part of Common Core 3.MD.C.6: measuring areas by counting unit squares (square cm). This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 3.MD.C.6. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Area by counting squares · Free printable

Grade 4: Area of rectangles

In this game children work out the area of rectangles and sort them into groups with the same area. A 12 cm by 1 cm strip and a 4 cm by 3 cm rectangle look very different but both cover 12 cm², so the game shows that shapes with the same area can have very different perimeters.

Supports part of Common Core 4.MD.A.3: the area formula for rectangles. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 4.MD.A.3. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Area of rectangles · Free printable

Grade 4: Converting units of time

In this game children match times in one unit to the same time in another, such as 3 minutes and 180 seconds. Knowing the key facts, 60, 60, 7 and 12, and multiplying or dividing by them, is the whole skill.

Supports part of Common Core 4.MD.A.1: hours, minutes and seconds within one system of units. Weeks, days, years and months are added for practice. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 4.MD.A.1. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Converting units of time · Free printable

Grade 5: Converting metric units

In this game children match measurements to the same amount in another unit, such as 2.5 km to 2,500 m or 0.25 kg to 250 g. The measurements include decimals, so children also practice multiplying and dividing decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000.

Supports part of Common Core 5.MD.A.1: converting measurement units within the metric system. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 5.MD.A.1. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Converting metric units · Free printable

Grade 5: Volume of cubes and cuboids

In this game children find the volume of cuboids and cubes from their measurements. Each answer comes with the working, so children can check how the three lengths were multiplied.

Supports part of Common Core 5.MD.C.5: volume of right rectangular prisms (called cuboids in this game). This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 5.MD.C.5. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Volume of cubes and cuboids · Free printable

Grade 6: Area of triangles and parallelograms

In this game children work out the area of four shapes and put them in order from smallest to largest. Each round mixes triangles and parallelograms, so children need to remember which formula halves and which does not.

Supports part of Common Core 6.G.A.1: area of triangles and parallelograms. This focused game does not cover the entire standard.

Common Core connection: 6.G.A.1. This is focused practice for part of the standard.

Play Area of triangles and parallelograms · Free printable