Ever since I first learned about the distributive property, I’ve loved it. I can’t explain it, but the idea just made sense to me. The distributive property was one of the first things that I remember learning that was really conceptual and not just computational. Now, I get the chance to bring this same love of math to students everyday. Not all of my students share my love of distributive property (sadly), but I hope that through engaging activities and conceptual experiences they can start to enjoy it.
Like many of the concepts that we teach in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, distributive property is inside of other concepts. It goes with equations, and equations are the basis of so much of what we do. Usually, we have time for one lesson on distributive property. I like to “distribute” the practice throughout the year. Some kids get it the first time and other take a lot more experiences before they get it. Also, if they spend weeks or months not seeing or using the distributive property, then they have to learn it again.
Here I’ve curated a list of activities that I’ve used or that I want to use. There are a variety of activities to choose from and I’m sure you can find something to fit your needs.
The distributive property activity list:
Maze and Tic Tac Toe and 3 Mazes with Exponents, Negatives, and Variables
Distributive Property BINGO and Distributive Property BINGO (No Negatives)
Combo Meals to Show Distributive Property
Matching Cards for Distributive Property
Distributive Property with Friendship Bracelets
Online Distributive Property Game and Worksheet
Distributive Property Riddle Activity
Let’s check them out
As we walk through these activities, you’ll notice that some of the activities are for individual work and others are for the whole class. Also, the activities can work for different parts of the lesson or unit. Some activities are perfect for independent practice or math stations, others for whole group review, and some for fast finishers. Some could be great anticipatory sets to kick off a lesson, while others serve as quick checks to see what students know.
Maze and Tic Tac Toe and 3 More Mazes
This distributive property maze and tic tac toe game is special to me because it’s the first maze that I created. One of my colleagues was using a maze for distributive property, and she liked it. She told me that she wished she had another maze activity to use with her students. I looked at it and told her I would be happy to make her some more. Since then I have created and used over 100 mazes. At this point I can’t even imagine my classroom without math maze activities!
This distributive property maze works really well with students because it’s easy to complete. The kids like the clipart because it’s just a little bit silly. And they really like trying to find their way through the mazes. Because the format is different than the traditional worksheet, I find that they lose track of how many problems they’re actually solving. I use the mazes as bell work and give students immediate feedback on how they’ve completed the maze.
For the second part of this resource, you might think that by 7th or 8th grade they would be too old to play games like tic tac toe. They really aren’t. This resource comes with two tic tac toe games in addition to the two mazes I talke about above. The tic tac toe games are a fun way for students to practice with partners. I find that it gets students using more math talk and practicing in a less intense way. 
When playing this game, students really get talking using math words if you set it up right. It’s important to model a tic tac toe game with them, and show them how you want them to talk about the problems and solutions, before you have them play with a partner. This would be great for math stations or for practice time.
To get students even more practice with the distributive property. I created 3 more mazes that are a bit more advanced. These three mazes include negative numbers, exponents on the variables, and more than one variable.
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Hands-on Dice Activity
My students loved doing this hands-on dice activity. Something about being about to roll dice gets them pretty excited. I use foam dice that don’t make any sound. Regular dice works just as well. Students have a half sheet of paper with a graphic organizer on it. This activity gives students a lot of repetitions in a simple way. All you need is some dice, and then grab this free graphic organizer here.
To practice, students roll the dice. You can have students use different colors of dice to reinforce how the terms are different. I had students roll and place the dice into each square. Once they make their roll, students simplify the expression by using the distributive property. I used the iPad as a whiteboard for students to show write the expression and simplify it. You could also have them capture their work on paper or a white board.
This activity is great because there’s little prep and you can easily use this as a fast finisher or sponge activity. Students can play by themselves or they can play with a partner. It’s easy and gives a lot of repetition with distributive property.
Puzzle Freebie
This distributive property puzzle gives students a chance to practice distributive property and it has the added challenge of solving a puzzle. The first time that students do this type of puzzle you’ll want to give a lot of directions.
Also, when getting started with a puzzle I tell students which piece goes in the middle. When I started doing that it helped them so that they didn’t take so long to complete it. In addition, you can stack all of the pieces after students are done and put them in a paper clip. That means that it’s ready for the next time you want to use it.
Make a Poster
If you go on Pinterest and search for distributive property you’ll come across some posters. The one that sticks in my head the most is one from Angry Birds. You can do something similar with any characters. You can have students draw pictures that illustrate the distributive property. Another way of doing this is to give them some clipart to cut out and they can create a mini-poster for distributive property in their interactive notebook. Make sure that you have the students explain why they are doing this. In order to take full advantage of using this method every student should express what is happening. These posters can be very memorable for students and help to build their background.
Distributive Property BINGO
Just the other day I had extra time in my math lab class. They had gotten ahead of the other classes. I was trying to think of what we could do. Then, I remembered this BINGO game. My students couldn’t love BINGO anymore than they do! They simplify the expressions on their whiteboards and then look for the answers on their bingo card. BINGO never flops. With that 20 minutes of bingo I got in some really good cyclical review and the kids had fun at the same time.
This game is a great way for students to practice applying the distributive property and includes negative numbers on many of the question cards. It includes 36 unique game cards as well as 30 question cards. It’s great for whole class review or, as it was in my class, cyclical review.
Distributive Property BINGO has been so much fun in my class, that I created another version of the game without negative numbers. This version of the game would be great for students who are just starting to learn about distributive property, or those who just need a simple review without dealing with negative numbers.
Combo Meals to Show Distributive Property
Some students have a hard time seeing what distributive property represents. One way to show them what is happening is through combo meals, as this post from Math Equals Love explains. If they can see that in the combo meal you get a hamburger, a drink, and fries. So, if you buy 3 combo meals, what would that food order look like? Or, if you mix it up and buy a separate order of fries, how could you model what this would look like? The visual aspect of looking at distributive property this way can be very helpful for kids who still can’t “see it” in their minds eye.
Matching Cards for Distributive Property
I found this Distributive Property Matching freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers and it has many uses. It’s a collection of 18 sets of cards. Each match has an expression with distributive property and a simplified expression. Students get the cards and have to find matches. You could use this as a review activity or a partner practice activity. If 18 matches sounds like too many pairs, you could always just give each partnership half of the deck of cards.
Distributive Property with Friendship Bracelets Video from PBS
PBS has some videos in a series called Math Club. The videos are a little silly and star a group of junior high aged kids. This video shows the distributive property through friendship bracelets. It runs about 5 minutes and gives a couple different examples of distributive property. During the video I have students write down the friendship bracelet example. After the video I ask students to make their own example like the bracelet examples. They have to come up with the idea and then make it into a distributive property expression.
Online Game and Worksheet
On a website called mathgames.com you can find a lot of math games. The games are simple and basic. Players answer 10 questions at a time. They earn stars at the end. The simplicity in this game is refreshing. Also, there are open-ended and multiple choice questions. They do a great job of showing the distributive property in different orders.
This game comes with an accompanying worksheet. So, even if don’t have the technology, you can download a good old-fashioned worksheet.
Distributive Property Riddle Activity
This Distributive Property Riddle Activity is a twist on a worksheet for practice. The students simplify expressions and then solve a little riddle at the same time. There are 10 expressions included and one cheesy riddle. This works well as a quick review in the middle of the year.
Try one or a couple things…
Usually, I challenge teachers to try one thing from a blog post. However, the concept of distributive property is so fundamental and the activities are so varied that I challenge you to try a couple of things from this list. Whether you’re introducing students to the distributive property for the first time, or reviewing it with students so they can be successful with solving multi-step equations, you can use these activities as bell ringers, homework, or practice activities. Remember to keep dispersing practice until students complain about it being too easy!
Thanks for reading! Until next time.
