Crazy 8s is a math club unlike any other! It offers unique, high-energy math activities that appeal to kids of all math abilities. Clubs meet before or after school and are coached by teachers and other adults who enjoy sparking a love of math in kids.
There are 24 weeks of Crazy 8s activities, packaged in three 8-week kits we call Seasons. New clubs start with Season 1 and can reapply for subsequent Seasons throughout the school year. Prospective coaches can apply to launch a club for one or both grade levels: K-2 and 3-5.
Crazy 8s is recreational, social, and designed to show kids that math is all around them. It is not a tutoring program, but it gets kids ready and excited to learn in the classroom.
We offer mischief-making math activities that kids love, like Beach Ball Party where kids play games with a beach ball to practice their math facts, and Pirate Treasure Hunt where kids map out coordinates on a grid to find the secret treasure. We start with the fun, then roll in the math.
In addition to completing our online application, coaches must schedule a 10-minute phone call or Zoom with us. We’ll use that time to review our Crazy 8s program and Honor Code, and answer any questions the coach may have. We’re also available via email at crazy8s@bedtimemath.org to answer questions.
Coaches must agree to the following conditions of our Honor Code:
- Offer Crazy 8s as a recreational math club for kids of ALL math abilities.
- Each club should include at least 12 kids, but no more than 16 kids.
- Group kids in Grades K-2 or 3-5. Yes, you can run the club for only one or two grades, and we do offer the option of grouping Grades 1-3 and 4-5. But you cannot expand the grade ranges in any other way.
- Clubs meet on a weekly schedule before or after school. The program works best when clubs meet once a week for 8 consecutive weeks. We’ll also allow clubs to meet twice weekly, or daily for a 1-week school break camp.
- Advertise the club as Crazy 8s Math Club using our branding guidelines.
We offer our kits for two grade ranges: K-2 and 3-5. Coaches can run the club for only one or two grades, and we do offer the option of grouping Grades 1-3 and 4-5. However, the grade ranges can’t be expanded in any other way.
Clubs must stay within the grade ranges for two reasons: 1) a broader age range would have too much variability in skill levels, and 2) the older kids find the club less “cool” if little kids participate alongside them. Coaches are welcome to host multiple clubs for both grade ranges, as long as the clubs aren’t combined in any way.
The different levels use the same basic activities but with more challenging math for the older level.
Yes. The activities are designed to appeal to kids with a wide range of abilities, even among kids in the same grade. Each session includes optional math challenges so kids ahead of the curve will have plenty to chew on.
The goal of Crazy 8s is to help kids see math as playful and social, not just an academic subject. With that in mind, clubs must always take place outside regular school hours. Clubs can meet at school before classes or after dismissal, at a public library, a town rec center, or any public venue where kids go to have fun.
Crazy 8s has been proven to reduce kids’ math anxiety when the group meets weekly for 8 or more weeks. Clubs spread out over too much time dilute that impact and weaken the camaraderie of the experience.
If you are running 1-week clubs during school breaks or if your club meets twice weekly that’s okay. But you cannot meet every other week or once a month, etc.
Each session lasts about an hour.
In our 10 years of experience, teachers make great coaches, but other enthusiastic adults who are comfortable with math can also be successful coaches. It’s important that you enjoy kids and can deal with a little mayhem while they explore and learn. Some comfort level with math will help, but any grown-up can confidently follow our simple, easy-to-follow instructions, and how-to videos. We also provide marketing materials, sample text for announcements, and more to make your job easier.
Crazy 8s is a lively club so kids get to bond over math in a fun, social way. If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that being prepared is key to helping run the best club you can!
Every activity has been tested and reworked to make it as fun and manageable as possible. We strongly encourage coaches to read the instructions and prep ahead of time – you don’t want to find yourself hanging in front of a group of kids who are eager to start! We estimate prep time totals about 20-30 minutes per activity. We’d also recommend finding a volunteer who can help you run the club.
Crazy 8s is recreational and not “schoolwork,” but our activities do introduce and reinforce age-appropriate math skills, as well as some more challenging math for high-flyers. Please note that the kit is not for use in the classroom.
Bedtime Math subsidizes the bulk of the overall cost of each Crazy 8s math club, valued at over $400, as part of our charitable mission. Clubs contribute $128 for the first kit of each Season, which equates to $1 per kid per week for a club of 16 kids. Additional kits for multiple clubs of the same Season meeting at the same time will be charged $88 per kit for their cost-sharing contributions.
Coaches who want to commit to 16 or 24 weeks upfront will receive a bundled discount of $198 for Seasons 1 and 2, or $258 for Seasons 1, 2, and 3.
Some clubs receive grants for after-school programming such as Crazy 8s. If your school receives Federal Title I or Title IV funding, it can be used for this purpose. Alternatively, PTAs, banks and civic organizations, family foundations, and corporations and businesses in your local community are also great sources of funding. To get you started, lists of possible funding opportunities can be found here and here.
Kits include nearly all items needed to run a club, along with math-y take-home items for the kids. Coaches will need to provide a few supplies like scrap paper, a pair of scissors, and a roll of masking tape.
We ship Crazy 8s kits to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. We will ship internationally to any US military base that receives mail via the USPS military pouch. Unfortunately, we’re unable to donate kits to other international locations due to the cost and complications of international shipping.
Much like sports teams, youth groups, and other clubs, Crazy 8s is designed to be an ongoing experience, with kids participating throughout a school year for the full 24 weeks of activities. We understand not all kids will want or be able to continue with Crazy 8s for all 3 seasons, but we encourage coaches to keep the math fun going from season to season. Coaches are not obligated to run all 3 Seasons if the first season doesn’t work out.
If your school or organization has a waitlist of kids clamoring for Crazy 8s, work to find another coach to start another club. Feel free to reach out to us for ideas about how to recruit more coaches.
Crazy 8s is funded by the Bedtime Math Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to putting the fun and discovery back into learning math, and by cost-sharing contributions from clubs around the country. In addition, all royalties from founder Laura Overdeck’s Bedtime Math books go back into the foundation to support Crazy 8s and our other programs.
As part of our charitable mission, we encourage you to offer Crazy 8s to your participants free of charge. You may also run Crazy 8s as a fundraiser for your elementary school or public library. We also realize that some Crazy 8s clubs may need to charge a fee to cover some expenses.
However, our Crazy 8s kit is in no way intended to be a franchise opportunity or part of a for-profit venture. While reviewing your application, if it’s not clear that your organization is a school, library or 501c(3) charity, we will ask for your IRS Determination Letter and a link to your most recent Form 990.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss this policy: questions@crazy8sclub.org or (908) 444-4539.
