How to Make Problem Solving More fun : Turn it into a Game

When I taught 3rd grade, sometimes my students would get overwhelmed with problem solving days.  I remember when they would turn to the next lesson in their problem set, and they see that it is a day of complex word problem after complex word problem and they would groan.  

I looked at the teachers manual, and it wanted me to walk through problem after problem with the students and no independent work. Blah.  Definitely not my favorite, or the kids' favorite, until I turned it into a game I named, "Level Up!"

The game is quite simple, all I did was take the word problems in the problem set, put in my students 's names and type them on new paper. Each problem got a different color and a different level.   Student worked in partners, and when they solved a problem, they would bring it to me and I would check it.  If they needed help, I would help, and then I would exclaim, "Level Up!!"

The students loved it.  They enthusiastically worked on word problem after word problem to Level Up! in the game. It was the simplest and easiest tweak in the world, and all of a sudden my kids were eagerly solving math problems, drawing models and collaborating on solving challenging problems.  

I am turning my Level Up! game into a problem solving game for St. Patrick's Day in case someone else is interested in trying it out.  I am trying to make each level a little harder than the last, and include some communication problems, open problems (with lots of answers), modeling and other compare and contrast problems.   

Additionally, when students Level Up! with my new game, they get a puzzle piece and when they collect them all it says, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

I'm looking forward to playing my game again soon. :)