Free Factors and Multiples Game with Jenga

Jenga is one of those games that I use in the classroom and wonder how I ever reviewed without it! It is right up there with Spoons games as my students’ favorite games to play. Since they love it so much (and the Jenga sets are not super cheap), I want to get as much mileage as I can from my sets by using them to review tons of skills (see the bottom of this post for a current list of free Jenga games that are available). This post shares a factors and multiples game and all the printables you need to have your students play the game.

Amazon affiliate links provided if you wish to purchase the Jenga blocks mentioned on this post.

Factors and Multiples Game Materials:

To have your students play this game, you will need the following::

Colored Jenga blocks —> I buy the precolored ones from Amazon here.

Factors and Multiples Game Directions and Number Cards —> available for free at the end of this post

Basic Directions for Playing:

To play this game, the students will select cards with numbers on them and then choose a color to move (by allowing them to choose or having them roll a die included in most Jenga sets). Based on the color of the block they choose to move, the students will answer a question related to factors and multiples using the number on the card they selected.

Here are the specific directions for the factors and multiples game:

Directions: Select a number card. Choose a block to remove. Complete the task that matches the color of the block that you want to remove with the number on the card. Repeat with each turn.

Purple: Is your number prime or composite? Explain.

Blue: Make a list of all the factors of your number.

Green: Make a list of the first five multiples of your number.

Yellow: Create a factor tree for your number.

Pink: Is 2 a factor of your number? Explain.

Red: Is 72 a multiple of your number? Explain.

Tips for Playing the Jenga Game:

Tip 1: You can easily differentiate this center by choosing smaller numbers for some groups and larger numbers for others (or a mix of both).

Tip 2: Have all of the students select their numbers and colors and do the work at the same time (with their specific numbers and questions) and then take turns moving their pieces. This will keep all of the students on-task and working, which will cut down on behavior problems.

Tip 3: If possible, keep your group sizes small, around 4 members. If you have multiple Jenga games, then you can have several games going on at a time. If you only have one Jenga game, then you could play this game at your teacher table or place it in a math center. Having larger group sizes causes the Jenga to fall more quickly and less time is spent on the actual math work.

Tip 4: For accountability, have the students record their work on a piece of paper or on the recording sheet included in the download.