Review for math with an engaging ice cream challenge!

Is there anything better than ice cream? My students had an unbelievable time reviewing for math with an ice cream challenge! An ice cream challenge is a great way to review for math while earning delicious ice cream sundae toppings. It can be used with ANY math skill. We used this ice cream challenge at the end of the year as a fun way to review all our math standards. I am so excited to share with you how my class and I used an ice cream challenge to review for math!

Review for Math with an Ice Cream Challenge

A few years into teaching I felt stuck doing the same math review activities. I felt like my kids were bored and anything but engaged. That’s when I came up with an engaging way to review math with an Ice Cream Challenge! With this math challenge students earn parts of their ice cream sundaes by completing math facts and/or problems. Each ice cream part (bowl, spoon, sprinkles, etc.) contains nine problems students will complete. The boxes are completely editable, so you can fit your student needs. I was teaching second grade when I first introduced this math challenge, so my students completed math challenges based on second grade standards. We completed the math challenge at the end of the year and we used it as a fun way to review everything we learned!

An ice cream challenge is a fun way to review for math!

How to Set Up an Ice Cream Math Challenge

One of the first things I did was decide what math skills I wanted my students to review. It was the end of the year, so I decided to review our second grade math standards. This challenge is also a great time to review math facts! You could make it word for addition, subtraction, multiplication or division! If you are looking for a ready to go multiplication ice cream challenge, you can find it HERE.

Once I decided on the standards to review, I typed them in the boxes. I printed and copied the challenge pages and placed them each in a separate folder. I printed off the teacher check sheet for me to monitor what topping each student was currently working on.

Then I printed and laminated the challenge topping signs.

I displayed the topping challenges on our white board with a fun ice cream sign that I picked up from Target in the dollar section. This was a fun way to remind my students what they were working for.

Review for math with an ice cream challenge!

Ice Cream Math Review Challenge

Throughout the math review challenge students will earn their bowl or cone, spoon, ice cream, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry for their ice cream sundae! We start the challenge about 2 weeks out from the day we have our ice cream sundae party. You may want to lengthen or shorten the time depending on your needs. I scheduled time for my students to work on the challenge every day. I designated about 15 minutes each day to work on it. It would take around 5 minutes to explain and pass out materials and then I would give my students 10 minutes to work on the challenge.

The students all begin at the bowl challenge. At the end of the 10 minutes, I collect the papers and grade them. It only takes me 5-10 minutes to grade! If the student got all the problems right I would check the “congratulations” box and the student would move on to the next topping. If the student missed one or more I marked the “please try again” box and the student would work on that challenge the next day. We continued this process until our party. All my students passed and enjoyed their ice cream sundae! I did modify as needed for some of my students just like I would for any other assignment or activity.

It only takes a few minutes to pass out the papers. I open all the folders and lay them on a table. I call up each student and tell them what topping challenge they are working on and they will quickly grab the paper and take it back to their seat to work on.

This was such a fun way to review for math! I plan to do this year after year! I did this at the end of the year, but it would be fun to do anytime too!

Earn ice cream sundaes for your next math review!

If you are interested in a premade and/or editable version of the Ice Cream Challenge I used for second grade, you can find it HERE. You can edit it to fit ANY grade level!

If you are interested in a premade and/or editable version of the multiplication facts Ice Cream Challenge, you can find it HERE. You can edit it to work with ANY facts!

I hope you found a fun way to review for math and your students enjoy earning their ice cream sundaes for their next math review!

Happy Teaching!

Interested in more activities for the end of the year? You can find more ideas on my blog post HERE!