Category: Games

  • Rush Hour Traffic Jam Game

    Rush Hour Traffic Jam Game

    Some amazing math found in the @ThinkFun game of Rush Hour! MathFour.com

    My sister-in-law showed me the Rush Hour Traffic Jam Game by Think Fun this weekend. She “assigned” one of the harder cards in the deck to me (sometimes it sucks to be known as the math mom) and assured me that I could do it.

    The Set-up

    You set up the 6×6 game board with the plastic vehicles just like the game card shows. Here’s where the math starts.

    The skills children develop doing this support graphing on the Cartesian coordinate plane later on.

    Even if your child isn’t ready for the actual game play, this step supports them in math!

    The Goal

    Allow the ice cream truck to “escape” the maze.

    In order to do this, you are allowed to slide any of the cars forward or back. They can’t crash into other cars to push them out of the way. And you can’t lift any of them off the game board.

    A more challenging goal is to also do this in the minimum amount of moves possible.

    The Strategy

    Everyone has their own plan. My nephew likes to scooch the cars around until he stumbles upon an answer. I decided to pick up the cars and move them to the most unique solution to see what the end result should look like.

    The Math

    You’ve the coordinate plane. You have logic. And you have strategy. But you have someone much more amazing here.

    The beauty of the game is the way it simulates mathematical research and discovery.

    • Everyone has their own style.
    • Everyone has their own solution.
    • If you follow the rules and “win” then you’ve done it right, regardless of how someone else did it.
    • There are many levels of success – and the player determines which level he or she is shooting for.
    • Given the board and the colorful cars, you can create your own game.

    Wanna play?

    The next time you’re tutoring or teaching math, consider treating it like the Rush Hour game. Give it to your child then back off. Refrain from telling or showing. Let him or her play.

    You’ll be amazed at what you see.

    Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to tweet this out.

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  • The Tower of Hanoi Math Game

    The Tower of Hanoi Math Game

    One of my favorite math games as a kid was The Tower of Hanoi. I had no idea what it was called until college, though. To me it was another cheap wooden puzzle. Or a game you could play with four coins and 10 toothpicks.

    The object of the game:

    • Move the stack from where it is, to another square or post.

    The rules of the game:

    • You can only move one disk (or coin) at a time.
    • You can only put a disk (or coin) on top of one that’s bigger – physically. (I.e. you can’t put a big one on top of a smaller one.)

    You can play it online for free or buy a physical version in classic or kid-friendly versions.

    How can you use The Tower of Hanoi with your kids?

    In the Tower of Hanoi puzzle, the math is vast – especially for such a simple little puzzle. But the math can be discovered gradually.

    Present these challenges to your kids, one at a time:

    1. Move the stack according to the rules (just get it to another place.)
    2. Move the stack according to the rules in as few moves as possible. How many moves is that?
    3. Make the stack smaller or larger. Then move the stack according to the rules in as few moves as possible. How many moves is that?
    4. Repeat challenge #3 with many different numbers of coins/disks. Use cut out pieces of paper if necessary.
    5. Determine how many moves it would take to move a stack of 100 disks. Or 1000 disks.
    6. Then figure out a way to say this without numbers. In other words, create some sort of formula that will tell you how many moves you need to move any number of disks.

    These challenges might range over many many years. I first learned of The Tower of Hanoi when I was about ten. And I’m still learning about it 30 years later.

    Oh, and try to resist giving them any answers – ever. Instead let them work on it in their spare time.

    Your turn!

    Have you played The Tower of Hanoi math game, or a version of it? Do you remember the first time you came across it? Did you learn or teach math with it?

    And how will you introduce it to your kids?

    Share your thoughts in the comments!

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  • Frabjous Puzzle Sculpture from the Museum of Mathematics

    Frabjous Puzzle Sculpture from the Museum of Mathematics

    MOMath, the Museum of Mathematics, sent me their new puzzle Frabjous – a design by George W. Hart.

    I had to wait for Daughter to be in bed before digging in – the box states, “Recommended for ages 16+.”

    I was pretty sure that a precocious 10 year old could handle it but I was unwilling to risk a 2 year old eating my cool puzzle.

    My “solution” to the puzzle…

    Oh, my… all the pieces are exactly the same!

    No biggie, though – I’m pretty smart. “I can do this!” I thought.

    I thought.

    After a while, I felt like maybe I was doing it right, and maybe not. Here’s the view from the top when I had 12 of the 30 pieces left to go:

    Guess what – the instructions clearly state “check that no parts are touching in the interior.”

    Everything in mine is touching!

    I’m (maybe) throwing in the towel!

    I keep looking at the mostly-built thing. It’s pretty, even in its unfinished state. I’m not one to quit, but I will pause temporarily.

    So for now, I have the wad of blue looking at me everyday. Staring. Saying, “Are you smart enough to finish me?”

    Sometimes I tell it to hush.

    Sometimes I google it.

    Windell Oskay, an Evil Mad Scientist, has some great images on his writeup of making your own Frabjous. I’ll likely use these when I get the courage tackle this thing again.

    I could just watch the video.

    I’m against looking in back-of-the-book answer pages. So I’m certainly not about to let a video tell me how to work a puzzle.

    But my cantankerous attitude doesn’t mean that you get deprived. Here’s the video:

    You can buy the Frabjous online for $29 plus about $7 shipping within the U.S. Technically, you can save the $36 bucks and build your own. But that might be a real pain. Plus, if you buy it from the Museum of Mathematics, you support them!

    What do you think? Do you want one? Have you built one? Share your thoughts and links to pictures in the comments.

    The Museum of Mathematics (MOMath) will open in New York City in 2012.

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  • K12 Math Must-Have Games

    K12 Math Must-Have Games

    Do you have any Pre-K and/or K12 kids in your family? I spent the day at Teacher Heaven on the Southwest Freeway in Houston, Texas yesterday and found some great math games!

    I was there for the day to demonstrate math games and manipulatives and generally help parents and teachers of K12 kiddos with math goodies.

    Meagan, Shantrelle and the crew had chosen a couple of math games to start me off. I also went and browsed the rest of the math section for others. By the end of the day, my table was jam-packed with math games!

    I fell for the loss leader!

    The big push at Teacher Heaven was the “fill-the-tub” sale – and I fell for it before I left. Hook, line and sinker!

    I resisted too many goodies for myself, but made sure to do a little Christmas shopping. Here’re a few of my excellent finds. Luckily my family members a) don’t read this site much and b) don’t know that these things were originally shrink wrapped!

    The Pre-K find of the day was inflatable number cubes!

    I nabbed these number cubes early in the day to have something to get the little ones engaged as they walked in the door. They were so cool I couldn’t resist taking them home to Daughter.

    They’ll be great for helping her identify the numeral and saying the word. Plus, I’ll be able to create a bunch of math games with it – like doing arithmetic with the numbers when she gets older, etc.

    One K12 treasure was the Aba-Conundrums by Fat Brain Toys.

    Aba-Conundrums comes with an abacus and a fun puzzle book. Using logic, you practice creating numbers and working with the tool.

    I can’t decide if I’ll give it to one family member, keep it for myself or give it to Ma as a “house” game.

    My other K12 find was the Check Math Game.

    Also by Fat Brain Toys, Check Math is totally for my niece. I’ll likely open it and play it with Husband first, though!

    You set the number pieces up and you capture your opponents pieces like checkers. The movement of pieces is a little different, though: a number piece can move to any square that’s a multiple of it. For example, the 2 can move to a 6 or 14. The 3 can move also to the 6 but not to the 14.

    Time for Christmas shopping!

    Pick up one of these math games at your local teacher supply store. And if you’re in Houston, head over to Teacher Heaven!

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  • Count 10 Read 10: Random Number Game

    Count 10 Read 10: Random Number Game

    Learning math isn’t just about being taught math. It’s about fun, discovery and experimentation. In the Count 10, Read 10! program, parents get to spend 10 minutes a night playing math with their children.

    Like many games you’ll find here, this is a version of Calvinball (from Bill Watterson’s Calving & Hobbes cartoon). You and your children make up the rules as you go along or as you see fit.

    This is merely a guideline or starting point.

    Random Adding

    Objective:

    Have fun with numbers, counting and quantities.

    Breakable rules:

    1. The leader starts by saying a number.
    2. The next player says “plus” and another number. Then adds them and says the result.
    3. The next player says “plus” and another number. She adds that to the previous result and says the new result.
    4. Play continues until a winner is determined.

    Example

    Leader: Five!

    Player 2: Plus three is eight!

    Leader: Plus one is nine!

    Player 2: Plus two is eleven!

    Leader: WINNER!

    End game, and how to choose a winner.

    The round ends when the youngest child reaches their limit of counting or adding. The winner is determined by a rule or random choosing. The older the children, the more “real rules” you’ll need to follow.

    Possible winning rules:

    • The first person to add up to 10 – or a number designated by the leader at the beginning of the game.
    • The person who noticies that another player is wrong in their calculations (this is perfect for the parent to “test” the kid).
    • At the whim of child or parent.

    Variations

    The point is to have fun with counting and math. As your children grow, you’ll have to adjust the rules to give them more challenge and to fit the “real game” model. Here are some options for variations:

    • Each player can only add a multiple of their age (grownups use one of the digits from their age).
    • Each player can only add a multiple of a roll of a die (get foam dice for bedtime).
    • Subtraction – instead of adding up, start with a higher number and add down.
    • Multiplication – instead of adding, multiply each new number. This one could get “fun” really quick!

    Will it work?

    All games created at MathFour.com are tested or will be tested on Daughter. The rub is that Daughter is almost 2 – we’ll have to wait a while to do this one. So your input is important.

    Will it work? Did it work? Try it and let me know how it goes in the comments, please. Also share your own variations.

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  • How to Create a Maze

    How to Create a Maze

    I just finished Dan Pink’s book A Whole New Mind in which he discusses the difference between a maze and a labyrinth. It made me think of this wonderful video of dissecting a maze into two walls to solve it:

    I learned about this method from David Chandler of www.MathWithoutBorders.com in the Math Future Google Group.

    Creating a maze becomes easy do-able!

    From the discovery that David and his class of Math Explorers made, I learned that you can take two colors and create a maze. So off I went…

    I’ve been dying to use this elementary school graph paper I got the other day so out it came. I grabbed a purple marker and started:

    I immediately began creating the “rules” of what would be good maze design. And almost as quickly I began seeing that I was all wrong.

    After a while I got out the orange marker:

    More rules… more “…no, that’s not really a requirement” thoughts from me.

    After a while I just gave up on making rules and decided to make sure that my purple and orange would come out at some point together.

    Then with a little photoshop magic, I made it all black. You can download it here and play it!

    Okay, your turn!

    This might not be something to teach, but rather something to do at home together. It’ll be a learning experience for the whole family.

    Grab anything with lines or a grid on it and two different color pens or markers and give it a shot. Let me know how it goes. You can even post a link to the pictures of them in the comments!

    Check out the interview with David Chandler here.

    This article was previously part of a We Are That Family “Works for Me Wednesday” post.

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  • Math Game Review: Sokikom

    Math Game Review: Sokikom

    I’ve recently been playing a new math game called Sokikom (so-kee-kom). It’s an online social math game – yes “social” – for 1st through 6th graders.

    So far I love it. The only bummer is that Daughter is only 21 months old, so a mouse to her either squeaks or is edible. But I did have some older kids in my family play – and they’ve all enjoyed it!

    It currently has three games, Frachine, Treeching and Opirate, and various other perks and treats to help children with math. It’s officially launching next week and the folks at headquarters tell me there’s more to come – even after launch.

    Here’s a little info to whet your whistle for it:

    Frachine reinforces fractions.

    The fun part of this fraction game is you get to cut the pieces up while you play. So it isn’t just showing parts of a whole, but the child actively makes the parts of the whole.

    Treeching supports money, measurements, time, patterns and early algebra.

    Sokikom is full of surprises. Sometimes the answer isn’t in the form you’re expecting. At first glance, this challenge puzzle seems all about mouse control. But notice there isn’t a matching “12 months” on the tree. Instead you have to convert. This is a great opportunity for teaching units!

    Opirate reinforces operations and early algebra.

    This was my least favorite game of Sokikom – but only because my sister creamed me in it. (We used the online social part from our respective houses. Felt like being a kid again!)

    Opirate is a bit of a thinking-through game. You have to do the problem (in the cloud at the top of the screen), then find the solution on the map, then get yourself to the solution. The “X marks the spot” numbers keep popping up – so every new problem has the old X’s that you had before (if you can remember where) as well as some new ones.

    The Social Aspect

    Your children can “friend” other kids with whom to play. I’m not a Farmville or World of Warcraft person, but I understand the appeal. Playing 20 minutes a night with an online friend keeps kids connected and at home, safe.

    More Goodies for the Kids

    In Sokikom kids earn energy (which they need to play a game) and Soki-money. As they accomplish levels, they get awarded Soki-stars. The Soki-stars unlock clothing and accessories items they can “buy” with Soki-bucks to personalize their avatar – a popular element of any social game.

    For parents and teachers

    Parents typically read to children before bed. Sokikom is a way for parents to encourage a little bedtime math: do some Sokikom math for 10 minutes and read for 10 minutes.

    And since many households have multiple computers, you can play online with your child – even sitting next to him or her. What a great bedtime routine!

    Sokikom also has a robust infrastructure to track and manage the progress of each child:

    Are you ready for it?

    Sokikom has won numerous awards and is funded by the US Department of Education. From their literature:

    Sokikom is focused on five core tenets: provide social learning where kids help kids learn math; adapt to individual students’ needs and learning styles; encourage positive and safe competitive game-play, which leads to measurable improvements; and connect school and home to allow for continuous web-based learning.

    I’ve seen these in action with this game. I’m a hands-on kind of mom and teacher, and I’m very much into attaching math to anything we can. If your kids lean toward video games, Sokikom‘s a great one to use!

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