When to Lead with Mega Mini Games

Lead with Mega Mini Games when the buyer says "fractions." That's the trigger. If the conversation is elementary and the need is fractions — whether it's enrichment, supplemental content, standards gaps, or hands-on application — this is the product line. Design Game X covers intro fractions (parts of a whole, comparing, ordering, number line, adding with unlike denominators) for grade 4. The Next Big Game covers fraction operations (equivalent fractions, add/subtract with like and unlike denominators, multiply, divide) for grade 5. Together they span the fraction arc from 3rd through 6th grade.

The two labs share a format — students play structured oversized physical games, then design and build their own original game — but they cover different math and are sold separately. A school doing Design Game X in 4th grade can add The Next Big Game in 5th. That two-year sequence covers fractions from introduction through operations, with the same collaborative, hands-on format students already know.

When NOT to lead with Mega Mini Games: If the buyer needs area/perimeter/multiplication (lead with PRISM). If the buyer is grades 6+ and asking about algebra or equations (lead with Essentials). If the buyer needs coordinate geometry or an engineering context (lead with Space Academy). Mega Mini Games is specifically for fractions — that focus is its strength, and it means you should only lead with it when fractions are the actual need.

The 30-Second Pitch

Two fraction labs, same format, different math. In Design Game X, students play oversized physical fraction games — launching a slider down a number-line track, bouncing balls into a fraction grid, comparing and ordering fractions on felt game boards — then design and build their own original fraction game. Intro fractions: parts of a whole, comparing, ordering, adding with unlike denominators. Grade 4. In The Next Big Game, students play three advanced games — Rollerslide (200cm ramp tracks for adding and subtracting fractions), Collision (felt boards and curling pucks for multiplying fractions), Apex (a game board with sliders and a paddle students make for dividing fractions) — then design a more complex original game with a scorecard requiring fraction operations. Grade 5. Both are 10 sessions, 15–20 hours, and culminate in a Game Expo where teams present and play each other's creations. The teaching portal runs every session. Supplemental — built for enrichment, STEM blocks, or flex days.

What to Show in a Meeting Rep Only

If you have 60 seconds

Open an Explore page for Design Game X or The Next Big Game and show photos of students making the game boards and playing the games. Have the page open before the meeting starts so you can screen-share immediately.

If you have 5 minutes

Show the session arc for whichever lab matches their grade level. For Design Game X: start with Lesson 2 (Line Up — students compare fractions on oversized felt boards), jump to Lesson 3 (Launchball — slider down a track, adding fractions with unlike denominators to score), then Lesson 10 (Game Expo — teams present original games). For The Next Big Game: start with Session 3 (Rollerslide — 200cm ramp tracks), Session 4 (Collision — pucks on felt boards for fraction multiplication), Session 10 (Game Expo). The arc is play structured games → design your own → present at an expo.

If you have 15 minutes

Walk through the teaching portal for one lab. Open a mid-lab session — Lesson 3 (Launchball) for Design Game X or Session 3 (Rollerslide) for The Next Big Game — and advance through 4–5 slides. Show the structure: Howie's video walkthrough, the student activity, the timer. Then show a design session (Lesson 8 or Session 8) where students are building their own games. The progression from structured play to open-ended design is the argument: students learn fraction concepts through physical games, then apply those concepts as design constraints when the math has to be right for their game to work. End with the standards alignment.

If you're meeting a teacher specifically

Show the teaching portal from their perspective. Click through 5–6 slides of a game session, play Howie's video walkthrough. Teachers see immediately that the slides run the session and the video shows exactly what to do — same support structure as PRISM and the other labs. Then show the design phase: students aren't just playing games, they're creating them, which requires the fraction math to be structurally correct. That shift from player to designer is where the application deepens.

Presentation Decks

Tailored slide decks for different audiences. Open in Google Slides, present directly or make a copy to customize.

For Teachers & Coaches Coming Soon

Physical games, design phase, teaching portal walkthrough, session arc.

For Principals Coming Soon

Visible engagement, fraction standards coverage, pilot proposal.

For Coordinators Coming Soon

Standards alignment, supplement positioning, fraction sequence across grades.

For District Leaders Coming Soon

Two-year fraction sequence, funding pathways, pilot + evaluation.

Mega Mini Games–Specific Objections Rep Only

These are objections specific to this product line. For universal objections (budget, time, evidence, digital), see the Scenarios page.

Games in math class? That doesn't sound rigorous

The games are the mathematical content, not a reward or a break from it. In Launchball, students launch a slider down a track and add fractions with unlike denominators to calculate total distance — they need common denominators to score. In Collision, students flick pucks across a felt board and multiply fractions to determine their scoring zone. In Line Up, students arrange fraction cards in order on an oversized board and prove which fraction is larger. The game mechanics require the fraction math to be correct. Then in the design phase, students build their own games where the fraction reasoning has to work structurally — if the math is wrong, the game doesn't function. The format is physical and collaborative. The math is the same math they'd be learning anyway.

We need two separate purchases for fractions?

Design Game X and The Next Big Game cover different math. Design Game X is intro fractions: parts of a whole, comparing, ordering, fractions on a number line, adding with unlike denominators — grade 4 content. The Next Big Game is fraction operations: equivalent fractions, add/subtract with like and unlike denominators, multiply fractions, divide fractions — grade 5 content. A school might need one or both depending on their grade levels. Most schools doing Design Game X in 4th grade add The Next Big Game in 5th the following year. They're sold separately because they serve different grades, different teachers, and different standards. A 4th-grade team doesn't need Rollerslide ramps and fraction division; a 5th-grade team doesn't need the intro sequence.

Our textbook already covers fractions thoroughly

It does — and students still struggle with fractions more than almost any other elementary topic. The issue isn't coverage, it's the gap between procedural knowledge and flexible understanding. A student can find a common denominator on a worksheet and still not understand why ¾ is larger than ⅔. In Line Up, students physically place fraction cards on a board and have to justify the ordering to their team. In Launchball, they add fractions with unlike denominators because the game score requires it, not because a problem set told them to. The labs don't replace your textbook's fraction unit. They give students a context where fraction concepts have to work — as game mechanics, as scoring systems, as design constraints. That application is what builds the flexible understanding that transfers to other contexts.

Can we just buy one lab and see how it goes?

Yes — that's the expected entry point. Pick the lab that matches the grade level where fractions are the primary need. Design Game X for 4th grade (intro fractions), The Next Big Game for 5th grade (fraction operations). Run it, see how students respond, and decide whether to add the other lab the following year. The labs are fully independent — each is a complete 10-session arc. The two-year sequence is a natural progression, but neither lab depends on the other.

The design phase seems open-ended — will students stay on task?

The design phase is structured, not open-ended in the "figure it out yourself" sense. Students receive specific design training (Session/Lesson 6), draft a plan with defined components (Session/Lesson 7), build to specifications (Session/Lesson 8), and create a scorecard or commercial that requires fraction reasoning (Session/Lesson 9). Each step has slides, timing, and a video walkthrough from Howie showing what the activity looks like. The design work is creative — students choose their game theme, components, and rules — but the mathematical requirements are non-negotiable. The game has to use fractions structurally. That constraint is what keeps the design phase mathematically productive.

What's in the Kit

Each lab ships separately. Game boards, tracks, and felt boards are fully durable — buy once, use every year. Paper-based design materials (planners, card templates, construction paper) are consumable and available as refill packs.

Design Game X

Oversized felt game boards (Line Up, Finish Line)

Polypropylene track (Launchball)

Marbles, ping pong balls, and dice

Connector straws for building structures

Game X design mats, card templates, planners

Game World poster, jobs poster, teamwork poster

Construction paper, glue sticks, tape

Quick reference booklet

The Next Big Game

Rollerslide mats (200cm polypropylene tracks)

Collision felt game boards (33″×22″, printed both sides)

Apex mats (55″ polypropylene tracks)

Hot Wheels tracks and connectors

Marbles, curling pucks, bean bags, ping pong balls

Connector straws and craft materials

Player's guides, planners, jobs poster, teamwork poster

Quick reference booklet

Standards by Lesson

Design Game X — 10 Lessons

Intro fractions: parts of a whole through adding with unlike denominators

Lesson	What Students Do	Standards
1	Build houses & towers — fractions as parts of a set & whole	3.NF.A.1
2	Play Line Up — compare & order fractions	4.NF.A.2
3	Play Launchball — add fractions with unlike denominators	4.NF.B.3, 5.NF.A.1
4	Play Finish Line — fractions on number line; multiply by whole numbers	3.NF.A.2, 5.NF.B.4
5–9	Design, build & test original fraction games	3.NF–5.NF
10	Game Expo — present, play & evaluate games	3.NF–5.NF

The Next Big Game — 10 Sessions

Fraction operations: equivalent fractions through division

Session	What Students Do	Standards
1	Make a meter stick — equivalent fractions; fraction of a whole	4.NF.A.1
2	Play Mini Games — add & subtract fractions with like denominators	4.NF.B.3
3	Play Rollerslide — add & subtract fractions with unlike denominators	5.NF.A.1
4	Play Collision — multiply fractions	5.NF.B.4
5	Play Apex — divide fractions	5.NF.B.7
6–9	Design, build & test advanced fraction games	4.NF–5.NF
10	Game Expo — present, play & evaluate games	4.NF–5.NF

PD Workshop Connection

How PD works with Mega Mini Games

In the half-day PD workshop, the facilitator uses a Mega Mini Games session as the core activity — typically a game session where the math is most visible, such as Launchball (Design Game X) or Rollerslide (The Next Big Game). Teachers experience the session as learners first: they launch sliders down tracks, calculate scores with fraction addition, argue about common denominators. Then they unpack the teaching moves with the facilitator: how to launch the session, how to structure the teamwork, when to let teams struggle with the fraction reasoning, how to transition from the structured games into the design phase. They leave understanding both the fraction content and the pedagogy of game-based mathematical application.

The sentence for the buyer: "We offer a half-day PD workshop where a nationally recognized math educator leads your teachers through a Mega Mini Games session — they play the fraction games themselves, then unpack the teaching moves. It's genuine professional development on structuring hands-on, collaborative learning. $3,995, up to 30 teachers, fundable through Title II-A as a separate line item from the kits."

Pair With

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PRISM: Grand Opening (Grade 3)

Natural lead-in to Design Game X. Schools doing PRISM in 3rd grade (area, perimeter, multiplication) can add Design Game X in 4th and The Next Big Game in 5th. Three years of hands-on Math Labs, three different math domains, same collaborative format. That sequence is the elementary pitch for curriculum coordinators.

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Space Academy: Finding P.I.P.E.R. (Grade 5)

Complement to The Next Big Game for 5th grade. Finding P.I.P.E.R. covers coordinate geometry and graphing through an aerospace engineering context — different math focus, different materials, but the same enrichment time slot. Schools with enough flex time can run both.

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Games Library (Free)

Use as a lead-in. Send a teacher 2–3 free print-and-play fraction games, follow up in two weeks, ask how students responded. If the games land, propose Design Game X or The Next Big Game as the full lab experience. The free games demonstrate the collaborative, hands-on format with zero commitment.

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The Full 3–8 Sequence

For district-level conversations: PRISM (grade 3) → Design Game X (grade 4) → The Next Big Game + Finding P.I.P.E.R. (grade 5) → Journey to Titan + Balance Lab (grade 6) → Slope Lab (grade 7+). One product per grade level, building from area through algebra. Mega Mini Games anchors the fraction years in the middle of the sequence.

Pricing

Each lab is priced and sold separately. Same price structure, same kit sizes.

Design Game X — Intro Fractions (Grade 4)

Kit Size	Teams / Students	Price	Per Student
Starter Kit	2 teams · 4–8 students	$399	~$50
4-Team Kit Lead with this	4 teams · 12–16 students	$749	~$47
Full Kit	7 teams · up to 28 students	$1,195	~$43

The Next Big Game — Fraction Operations (Grade 5)

Kit Size	Teams / Students	Price	Per Student
Starter Kit	2 teams · 4–8 students	$399	~$50
4-Team Kit Lead with this	4 teams · 12–16 students	$749	~$47
Full Kit	7 teams · up to 28 students	$1,195	~$43

Game boards, tracks, and felt boards are fully durable — no replacement needed. Paper-based design materials (planners, card templates, construction paper) are consumable; refill packs available. Cost per student is for 15–20 hours of instruction per lab.

Add PD: $3,995 for a half-day workshop, up to 30 teachers. Fundable through Title II-A (separate budget line from kits). See the Funding Guide for details.