The majority of us regularly use mental arithmetic skills without even being aware of it. Mental maths can be used to calculate many things every day without using a calculator for even the simplest calculations. By improving your mental maths skills, you can easily do easy calculations in your head such as determining the change you are supposed to get back from the cashier, calculating the taxi fare as per the distance traveled, and the price you have to pay for half a dozen bananas, etc.

It is also said that mental math exercises are beneficial for brain stimulation. Your memory and brain stay fresh with regular practice of mental math. You also need to find creative solutions to the issues. Thus, mental arithmetic also enhances creativity and imagination and because mental math is supposed to stimulate a brain region associated with depression and anxiety, it can also help your mental health. So, you can see there are several benefits of learning mental maths.

It is quite evident that mental arithmetic is useful not only for educational purposes or simply because it helps in developing a strong base in mathematics for higher studies, but it also has many practical uses. So, every child should make an effort to improve their mental arithmetic skills. 

There are many practices, techniques or tricks and maths games these days that are effective for practicing and improving mental arithmetic skills. Since most schools and even parents have realized the importance of mental maths, more and more educational institutions have started introducing mental maths in their curriculum. You can also enroll your kids in a maths course to help them improve their math skills. 

Welcome2 Maths by Swarnali Saha is one of the top maths skills platforms in India that offers various specialized maths courses that makes maths easy and fun for students. You can enroll your children in the mental maths course by Swarnali Saha to help your kid improve their mental arithmetic skills greatly.

Top 6 Practices to Improve Your Mental Arithmetic Skills.

Mental arithmetic is beneficial for many purposes. It is important to make efforts and improve your mental maths skills and you can improve them only through continuous practice. 

It is only by repeatedly performing arithmetic computations in your mind and employing your mental abilities that it would be possible to improve your mental maths. Given below are the top 6 practices for helping you improve your mental arithmetic skills:

• Flashcards

The value of repetition cannot be overstated! It is surprising how many repetitions of multiplication tables and number relationships a youngster needs to make before they are finally remembered and stored in the mind.

Using flashcards is a terrific method to study while having fun. Consider bringing them along when you are out and about; even just a few minutes between other stuff can be enjoyable and make a big impact on your mental arithmetic skills.

Flashcards continue to be a useful tool for practicing mental math even as a learner gets older. You can easily make your sequence of flashcards, or you can choose from a variety of sets that are already accessible. The flashcards make learning plenty of the times tables easier. Flashcards are a great way for youngsters to practice mental math since they may have fun guessing how many answers they will get right in a certain amount of time.

• Maths Puzzles

Games and puzzles are excellent teaching tools that kids can use to improve their mental arithmetic skills. Since you are having fun while your brains are also actively working during puzzles and games, they are particularly effective teaching tools for mathematics.

Numerous problems call for an understanding of numerical patterns. Students all over the world like playing games and solving math puzzles to help them improve their mental arithmetic abilities. Sudoku, number crosswords, arithmetic mazes, and number riddles are just a few of the puzzles that are great for learning efficiently. Math puzzles are really enjoyable to do and are a great method to get children interested in the fascinating field of mathematics.

• Double and halve

Another fun practice that can help a child develop his or her mental arithmetic skills is double and halve strategy. It is a simple technique that you can try anywhere at any time.

You can ask your child to multiply an even integer by two and then cut it in half. Starting with one digit, you could progress to twenty, then perhaps a multiple of 10, and so forth.

 Students who have mastered multiplication beyond the basics can swiftly multiply two integers if any of them is an even number using their mental math abilities.

You can simply divide the even number in half and increase the other number by two. You can stop this simple game or practice once the even number cannot be halved or when the problem becomes solvable.

• Estimation Games

Playing estimation games is another fun way of practicing mental maths. The aim of estimating is to evaluate the accuracy of the closest solution. Finding estimates can be done in a variety of ways, including rounding off, matching figures, bracketing, and compensating. A kid's brain can be opened to calculation and their mental arithmetic skills can greatly improve through estimation games. An example of an estimation game is given below. 

Let us consider multiplying 24 by 48 as an example. This may appear challenging at first, but children can round off 24 to 20 or 48 to 50 using estimating. As 20 X 50 equals 1000 in this method, the result of 24 X 48 would be close to 1000. Doing this makes it easier and makes the problem a bit easier. You can try estimating the answers to other numerical problems regularly to improve your mental arithmetic abilities.

• Word Problems

Word puzzles are simple to solve mentally. However, the trick to solving a word puzzle is to carefully understand it before using the right operation to guess the solution.

Let us consider the following statement as an example for mental arithmetic practice: "Each packet of poppy seeds costs Rs. 6 while each packet of basil seeds costs Rs. 3."How much do  5 poppy seeds and 3 basil seeds cost?

The given question is a simple one. However, if students read it incorrectly, they risk making blunders. One basil pack is worth Rs. 3, while one poppy pack is worth Rs. 6. Then, 5 poppy packets equal 5 X Rs. 6 = Rs. 30 and 3 basil packs equal 3 x Rs. 3 = Rs. 9. So, the total cost of both the seeds would be 39 (30+9). Solving similar word problems in your mind can be a very helpful practice for improving mental arithmetic skills.

• Regular Practice and Patience

Maths is something that you get better at with practice and the same goes with mental maths. You cannot become an expert at mental arithmetic calculations just because you remembered the times tables or because you learned some mental maths tricks. It is important for you to realize that consistent practice is necessary for mental arithmetic and that you will have to be patient with it.

If you are a beginner and are just starting to practice mental maths, it is best that you use paper and a pen and not a calculator while performing calculations, even when you are taking your time. This will be greatly effective and help you in developing your mental arithmetic skills. Your brain will start acquiring these abilities gradually and steadily, and you would not even need paper or a pen for doing even large calculations mentally with practice.

Conclusion

Mental math is an essential component of everyone's life. If you struggle with mental math, you should not panic since with consistent practice, you can quickly master the skill.

You can try the above-given games and strategies to help you effectively practice and improve your mental arithmetic skills. You can also join a specialized mental maths course for quickly learning mental maths tricks and techniques from experts.