How to Prepare for Math Kangaroo?

If you are a parent or a teacher, you’ve probably heard of Math Kangaroo before. Math Kangaroo is an international mathematical competition that aims to promote the diffusion of essential mathematical culture and help students realize that solving mathematical problems is a rewarding achievement.

The Kangaroo Math Contest is one of the most popular math competitions in the world. Every year, more than 6 million students from 69 countries participate in this competitive exam. So students need to get prepared for the competition in the right way.

In this blog, we’ve aimed to help students and parents out in this preparation process and compiled the best tips and tricks that will guarantee success in the Math Kangaroo test.

Would you like to know how to prepare for the Math Kangaroo contest in detail? If your answer is yes, then keep reading and learn how to get better at math! Here we go!

10 Strategies for the Kangaroo Math Contest

Getting ready for a competition is the most challenging yet rewarding process for students. Thus, completing the challenging part requires detecting the strength and weaknesses in skills and improving them with the right sources and strategies.

Similar to other competitions and exams, there are some key strategies and tricks that affect kids' success in the Math Kangaroo exam. These strategies lead the way for students and parents by explaining the right practice resources and how to use them in the right way.

With these useful and effective Math Kangaroo preparation strategies, rocking the Math Kangaroo contest might not be as hard as it seems!

1. MentalUP for Math Kangaroo

The Math Kangaroo contest is one of the most exceptional math contests as it not only focuses on testing kids’ math skills but also increasing their affinity towards math by making the overall experience enjoyable.

The Math Kangaroo test includes fun, interesting, and relatable math questions that go beyond traditional math knowledge. So it is true to say that the Math Kangaroo contest is a great resource to foster kids’ math interests and give them a chance to learn and improve their math skills.

For the Math Kangaroo contest, it’s all about changing kids’ perception of math from boring and challenging to fun and interesting, just like MentalUP. With its fun and educational math games and activities, MentalUP offers the best solution for kids to improve their overall math skills and prepare for the contest.

2. Math Kangaroo Books

Along with the MentalUP math games, practicing with Kangaroo math practice books is one of the best strategies to help kids succeed in the Math Kangaroo contest.

The Math Kangaroo contest is widely used by schools from all over the world. So there are a lot of Kangaroo Math practice books online for each country. These books include multiple-choice questions selected by mathematicians and teachers all over the world. And with their fun pictures and exceptional questions, they are great resources to get ready for the Math Kangaroo test.

3. Math Kangaroo Past Tests

It is obvious that practicing with past tests and mock tests is essential to succeed in any kind of exam or competition. Thus, whatever exam your kids or students sit on, you should always include a past test in their practice routine.

In terms of Math Kangaroo, practicing with a past test is a must. Along with improving academic performance and math skills, practicing with Math Kangaroo past tests is beneficial for students in many ways:

• Highlights gaps in knowledge: Practicing with Math Kangaroo past tests helps students to understand their strengths and weaknesses in math subjects. So they can direct their learning in their weak areas and spend less time in stronger ones.
• Improves students’ retention skills: As practice tests stimulate revision and studying, they space out learning and improve retention skills.
• Reduces Anxiety: Getting familiar with different question types and exam structure helps students develop confidence toward the exam. So students feel less anxious during the competition.
• Helps with time management: Practicing with past tests shows students how much time they spend solving different kinds of math problems. So it improves time management as well as speed.

It might be confusing for parents and teachers to decide which Math Kangaroo past tests are official and appropriate for helping students get prepared. Luckily, MentalUP is here to help! We compiled all of the past Math Kangaroo test papers to help you out. You can check our sources to find out past Math Kangaroo test papers for all Kangaroo levels.

4. Math Kangaroo Practice Test

You know what they say, practice makes perfect! So similar to all other exams, students should practice a lot with Kangaroo Math practice tests.

Yet, getting prepared with Kangaroo Math practice tests all the time can be overwhelming. In this case, kids need fun and effective games and activities to practice math subjects and improve their math skills.

We know where to find them! Access more than 150 Kangaroo Math games that help kids improve their math skills and practice math subjects like geometry, numbering, and 3-dimensional thinking. With MentalUP, it is possible to practice anytime, anywhere!

5. Master Basic Math Concepts

As mastering math takes time, kids need to learn basic math concepts step-by-step. A great way to master basic concepts before diving straight into the hard ones is to run through a syllabus and note down basic concepts.

This way, students can learn the basic concepts first and move ahead to the next level after mastering them.

6. Set a Dedicated Time

Even though Math Kangaroo is not a competitive exam, it still requires practice for a good amount of time. For many students, studying constantly can be exhausting and decrease motivation to complete the Math Kangaroo test.

Thus, to practice properly and get prepared in the right way, setting a dedicated study time for the Math Kangaroo test is both essential and beneficial.

7. Revise Carefully and Thoroughly

Improving memory skills is most possible when learning new things and continuing to go through them. So to get successful results in the Math Kangaroo test, the key is to revise effectively with the right tools.

You can experiment with revision tools and try different options like mind maps, flashcards, and boards to figure out which ones suit your kids or students best.

8. Improve Your Speed

The mathematical Kangaroo competition is a time-limited test. This means students have only 90 minutes to answer all of the questions. As a natural part of the competition, speed shapes the results of the exam.

Consequently, kids need to practice speeding up their problem-solving skills with Math Kangaroo past tests, practice papers, and fun and educational activities.

9. Stay Positive and Stress-Free

Studying all the time and getting prepared for the Math Kangaroo contest might be stressful for kids. As kids deal with pressure in different ways, staying in a stressful environment for a long time can affect them both physically and mentally.

Thus, stress is one of the most negative factors that influence kids’ success on the Math Kangaroo test.

In this situation, telling a kid or student to stop feeling stressed is not a solution. Rather, you should focus on teaching them how to manage their stress and support their stress management skills with relaxing mindfulness activities.

10. Practice Mental Math Tricks

The Math Kangaroo test includes questions from all difficulty levels, and some questions seem harder to solve than others. Yet, for kids that have mastered mental math tricks, these questions are not a problem.

Mental math tricks are a collection of calculating strategies based on algebra, arithmetics, and numbering. Mastering mental math tricks is all about having strong visualization skills and using them to solve problems.

Being skilled in mental math tricks is not something to be achieved overnight. It takes practice and time, but at the end of the day, it’s beneficial for both math skills, speed, and overall academic success.

During the Kangaroo Math Contest - Best Tips!

So far, we’ve shared the best tips and tricks to succeed in the Math Kangaroo contest. It is obvious that using these strategies in the preparation process contributes a lot to the exam results. Still, you should consider some more tips to use during the exam.

These tips can help students have a great experience during the Math Kangaroo test and apply all their knowledge effectively to solve problems.

1. Read the Questions Carefully

For grades 1 to 4, the Math Kangaroo test includes 24 questions, and for grades 5 to 12, it includes 30 questions.

These questions consist of a variety of math subjects, like numbering, algebra, and geometry. This means that these questions might be tricky ones and most probably require attention to detail.

So to succeed in the Math Kangaroo test, it is critical to read questions carefully and answer them considering all details and given information.

2. Do the Easy Questions First

Interestingly, solving the easy questions first contributes to the overall Math Kangaroo contest experience in many ways.

Starting with easy questions on the Math Kangaroo test and then moving on to harder questions helps students save time, score higher, feel more confident, and remember skills easier.

3. Use Your Breath in the Right Way

Feeling stressed and anxious is a natural part of the exam process. Thus, instead of avoiding stress during the Math Kangaroo, students should learn how to manage their stress and use it to increase motivation. This is where breathing exercises step in.

Taking deep breaths, or using easy breath exercises like four-seven-eight, helps kids concentrate better, increase their attention span, and clear their minds to solve math problems more easily.

4. Be Confident

Even though it's the Math Kangaroo contest, getting prepared to sit an exam or contest might seem exhausting. But you don’t need to worry about it anymore, because you now know the best tips and tricks that will help your kids rock the Math Kangaroo exam. We know that by getting prepared efficiently, success is just around the corner.

Good luck!