Factor and Multiple Game on the 100 Chart

For the free printables I used with this activity,

click here for the Google Doc.

Click here for a free multiplication chart.
  
Update July 2015: I created a 100 chart with larger boxes.  These fit many of my cubic math materials. 

Today I am starting a series of posts about using 100 Charts for teaching different math concepts.  I posted Rounding on the 100 Chart about six months ago, but I didn't realize then how many levels of math I could teach with this tool.

Rules for Factors and Multiples

1. The first player chooses an even number less than 50 and marks it with initials or a marker.  Pinto beans are a good size for this game board.

2. The second player chooses a number that is either a factor or a multiple of the first number and places his/her mark on that square.

3. Players continue to take turns covering squares that are a factor or a multiple of the previous square.

4. When a player cannot find a factor or multiple of the last number played, he/she loses the game.

After introducing this game, and playing a round of teacher against the class, I thought my fourth graders were ready to play in pairs.  I could tell by the questions they were asking and how quickly they got stuck, that their ideas of factors and multiples didn't extend beyond the math facts they memorized. 

I made double-sided copies of the six 100 charts on a page and showed them how to make the multiple patterns for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.  I told them they could use the charts they created to find factors and multiples.

The third day we played the game I reviewed factor trees.  I told them this was another strategy they could use for finding factors of large numbers.

I hope you enjoy this activity with your class.