Crazy 8s is a math club unlike any other! It offers unique, high-energy math activities that appeal to kids of all math abilities. The club is designed for after-school programs in schools, libraries or other community centers where kids come together to have fun. Crazy 8s is offered in three 8-week kits we call Seasons. New clubs start at Season 1 and can reapply for subsequent Seasons throughout the school year. Prospective coaches can apply to launch one or both of our K-2 and 3-5 kits.
As part of the kit application process, the coach of the club will be asked to schedule a 10-minute phone call during which we’ll review our Crazy 8s program and answer any questions the coach may have! You can also email crazy8s@bedtimemath.org with questions about our honor code.
In exchange for the donation of our free Crazy 8s kits, 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.
- Register a minimum of 12 or a maximum of 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.
- Run the club before or after the school day has ended.
- Run the club 1 hour weekly over 8 consecutive weeks, so kids appreciate math as a regular part of their lives.
The club includes hands-on activities for two age ranges: grades 3-5 and grades K-2. You’re welcome to host more than one age range of club, as long as they’re held separately.
We offer the club for two separate age ranges: grades 3-5 and grades K-2. The different levels use the same basic activities, but with more challenging math for the older level. 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 would find the club less “cool” if little kids did it alongside them.
Yes. The club offers a range of material to handle a wide range of abilities, even among kids in the same grade. Each session includes bonus activities so kids ahead of the curve will have plenty to chew on.
The goal of Crazy 8s is to show that math is fun and recreational, not compulsory, in order to change our culture and get kids to think of math as play. With that in mind, clubs must always take place outside regular school hours. Clubs can meet at school 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. A major goal of Crazy 8s is to make math a fun, social part of life for kids and their friends. Clubs spread out over multiple months dilute that message and weaken the camaraderie; sessions crammed into 1-2 weeks fail to make math an ongoing part of kids’ leisure time.
All clubs meet for about an hour each week. Each session includes bonus activities if you’d like to run longer!
We offer mischief-making activities that kids love, like Bouncy Dice Explosion and Spy Training. We start with the fun, then roll in the math.
Any adult can coach Crazy 8s! You don’t need to be a math teacher or hold a doctorate in non-Euclidean geometry. It’s much more 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, including math tips. We also provide marketing materials, sample text for announcements, and more to make your job easier. There’s about one hour of prep each week, though some coaches have said it can be done in 30 minutes.
Crazy 8s is recreation, not “schoolwork,” but our activities do align with the Common Core State Standards. Please note that the kit is not for use in the classroom. Crazy 8s is designed to show kids that math is a really fun, recreational activity to do with friends during playtime outside of school. Please help us serve our mission with our limited funds by hosting the club entirely outside school hours.
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.
Additionally,
- we can’t sell the kit or receive payment for shipping;
- we can’t send the directions without the kit since many of the activities use custom supplies; and
- we no longer ship kits to coaches at a US address who intend to transport the kit to an international location. Coaches found the kits cumbersome and expensive to transport and, on our end, it was difficult to schedule timing for the delivery of subsequent seasons.
Nearly all materials needed are provided in the free kit. We do ask that coaches supplement the kit with basic school supplies, like markers, paper, tape. We’ll give you a shopping list for those items. It’s very unlikely you’ll need to purchase all the items on the list, but you can estimate a budget of no more than $80 in total for all 8 weeks.
While some materials are fully “consumed” during the weekly sessions, we also provide some items that the kids can keep for more math fun at home, including math gadgets and prizes such as measuring tapes and bouncy dice.
Crazy 8s is funded by the Bedtime Math Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to putting the fun and discovery back into learning math. 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 realize that some Crazy 8s clubs may need to charge a fee to purchase the limited additional materials not included in the kit. You can expect these will cost no more than $80 in total for all 8 weeks. Some clubs may also need to pay a coach. We find that the average coach fee is $50 per hour, 2 hours per week.
We’re happy to donate Crazy 8s kits to not-for-profit organizations with charitable missions in line with Bedtime Math Foundation. While we do allow clubs to charge fees to cover expenses, 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.
