Maths Warm-Up: Rock-Papers-Scissors ⭐️ The Sydney Teacher

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Maths Warm-Up: Rock-Papers-Scissors

Welcome to the Monday Morning Maths Club!

Every Monday, I share a free, ready-to-go maths activity that’s fun, flexible, and keeps students thinking and moving.

Today’s activity? Rock-Paper-Scissors with a twist! It’s perfect as a quick warm-up, brain break, or whole-class game.

Maths Warm-Up: Maths Hot Potato Reading Maths Warm-Up: Rock-Papers-Scissors 2 minutes

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A Twist on Rock-Papers-Scissors

Who doesn’t love a quick game of Rock-Paper-Scissors? Now imagine adding a maths twist! This simple game turns into a fast, fun way to get students thinking, calculating, and reasoning in seconds.

How It Works

Students play in pairs, like Rock-Paper-Scissors, but instead of hand signs, they show a number of fingers (0–5). The goal is to make the sum of both players’ numbers match a target number, like 10. If they succeed, the “winner” scores a point; if not, they try again. After a few rounds, you can change the target number and make it more challenging.

Teacher tip: Keep each pair’s score on the board so everyone can follow along and stay engaged.

Some Examples:

Target Number: 5

Player 1 shows 2 fingers, Player 2 shows 3 fingers → Total = 5 → Winner scores!

Player 1 shows 1 finger, Player 2 shows 2 fingers → Total = 3 → Try again

Target Number: 10

Player 1 shows 5 fingers, Player 2 shows 5 fingers → Total = 10 → Winner scores!

Player 1 shows 3 fingers, Player 2 shows 4 fingers → Total = 7 → Try again

Why It's So Good

Builds teamwork and sparks friendly competition
Keeps the class engaged with a fast-paced, fun challenge
Combines maths thinking with movement and interaction
Hands-on and requires little to no prep
Perfect as a quick 5-minute warm-up to get everyone thinking

Add this maths twist to the classic Rock-Papers-Scissors and turn maths into a fast, fun challenge everyone will love!

Negative Integer Dice Games

$4.90 AUD

Looking for a way to extend your students with negative integers? These hands-on games are both challenging and engaging, allowing students to practise adding, subtracting, and multiplying negative integers.

Set-up is easy - all you need are dice, counters, whiteboard markers, and the game boards in plastic sleeves!