3 Fun Ways to Stop the Math Summer Slide

Summer and math are (and always have been) poles apart from each other. Summer vacations are meant for late breakfasts (aka brunches), virtual games, swimming lessons, outdoor fun and above all, zero math. Mathematics is a subject which needs constant practice; the more you slog at it, the better you get. And, of course, summers are definitely not meant to be spent slogging over math problems, are they? That’s why most kids fall prey to the deadly summer slide, more so in math as compared to other subjects.

Here are 3 fun ways to try and slow down (if not stop) this inevitable summer slide in math:

1. YouTube videos are all the rage these days. Just run a simple search like ‘fun math videos for kids’ and you’ll be greeted by loads of fun stuff, from basic kindergarten and preschool math involving colorful animals prancing around to alligators and friendly monsters imparting math education. Introduce your kids to them for a fixed time duration daily to ensure they don’t forget the basics learnt over the last school year (especially useful for younger kids).

“icon-graphics” by jean_victor_balin is licensed under CC by 2.0

2. Does your child enjoy watching and/or playing sports? Summers could be the perfect time to catch up on ongoing events in the sporting world and teach math using sports. Encourage your child to keep track of scores and in the process, grab the opportunity to introduce her to the basics of statistics. Sports events more often than not show pie charts and bar charts on television, in between matches. Improve your kids’ understanding by having a full-blown discussion regarding the same after each match and see how they grasp stuff quickly since it’s something that interests them.

3. Any summer vacation is incomplete without the ubiquitous board games or card games. At our place, Monopoly has been the all-time favorite game of several generations, played by several generations as well at the same time all together! (Needless to say that this has resulted in a large chunk of the game money to go missing followed by newly purchased Monopoly sets from time to time. I’ve lost count on how many Monopolies we’ve owned – and lost – in the last couple of decades.) Counting out money is fascinating for all kids since they aren’t used to handling money on an everyday basis. Make your kid the ‘banker’ of the game, entrusted with the responsibility of handing out the required denominations of notes to the other players. They’ll end up getting familiar with counting out the change and it’ll hold them in good stead in the years to come.

Joanna Christodoulou from the Harvard Graduate School of Education couldn’t have put it better when she said: “Reading activities are often part of the fabric of a family’s daily life. But if you try to imagine a bedtime math routine, as you might for reading, the idea of winding down by completing math equations doesn’t elicit the same interest. The issue isn’t that engaging math activities are not available outside of school, but rather that it is easy to overlook the presence of math in everyday activities, like measurement in cooking, calculation when dealing with money, or distance while driving.” (You can read the full article here.)

Do you have any other interesting ideas that can be added to this list?

Easter Math Riddles

Easter and Math do not generally go together; true that. But then, riddles can go along with pretty much any subject, Easter being no exception. Here’s how you can design simple, Easter-themed Math riddles for your kids.

“Framed Math Girl” by JayNick is licensed under CC by 2.0

Have an incomplete riddle as the question that needs to be solved in the beginning. Here are some examples:

• A rabbit with fleas is called ____. (Answer: Bugs Bunny)
• How do Easter bunnies stay healthy? (Answer: Eggsercise)
• How did the soggy Easter bunny dry himself? (Answer: Hare Dryer)

Now divide the page into two parts. The left half should contain math problems; simple addition and subtraction for younger kids, the more complicated multiplication and division for older kids. Just the signs (+, -, x, /) need to be missing, shown as an empty block. The right half will have four columns, each headed by these signs and corresponding alphabets under each. The correct sign for each equation should have the corresponding alphabet under it for each problem, so as to make up the word in a correct sequence once all the problems are solved. The children are required to figure out the correct signs in each case and circle the letter under the correct sign. Once all the problems are correctly solved, simply list out the alphabets in their correct order at the bottom of the worksheet and you have the answer to your riddle!

3 Interesting Ideas for Preschool Math

Talk preschool math and you need to think of beginning with hands-on activities. Sorting out different colored objects such as beads or macaroni or lego or soft toys could be a good way to start, followed eventually by simple preschool math worksheets. Turning any math sorting or counting activity into a story can also be immensely helpful in getting the children hooked on to your tale – one can always include spiders and monsters and kittens and puppies into small math games and have the preschoolers learn without realizing the fact that they are actually being taught numbers!

“Framed Math Girl” by JayNick is licensed under CC by 2.0

Here are three interesting ideas with respect to counting, measuring and identification of shapes which can be useful in introducing your little ones to basic math.

Counting Fun: Anything that is brightly colored and looks attractive generally catches the fancy of a preschool kid. Counting can be made a fun activity by introducing many different colored objects in it. One exciting way could lead you to the kitchen to look for some uncooked spaghetti. Get hold of some colorful plastic beads and let your little one try and identify each color before threading a bead onto the spaghetti. Set a rule beforehand, like one spaghetti stick will contain only one color and (say) 10 beads in all. Another interesting counting activity could be carried out with a pack of playing cards. Sort out all the picture cards and the aces and set them aside. You’re now left with number cards only. On a drawing board, pin up the numbers 2-10 of a single suit and ask your little one to match each number on its corresponding one on the board, that is all 5’s together (4 in all), all 6’s together and so on.

Measuring Fun: The focus here will be not on accuracy but on getting preschoolers acquainted with the art of measuring substances they encounter on a daily basis. The easiest way to do this is by allowing them to assist you while cooking. Have a notebook open with basic measurements penned down for a simple dish like a salad – 2 tomatoes, 3 onions, 4 carrots and the like. This could be followed by the more complex ‘3 spoons of sugar’ or ’100 ml of water’ in a measuring cylinder, depending on what is cooking.

Shapes Fun: Preschoolers usually begin their math learning by identifying shapes of different kinds. A good idea is to try out this simple activity which requires just a piece of chalk and an empty backyard with a floor that can be drawn on. Draw out different basic shapes – square, rectangle, circle, star – on the ground using chalk; each shape should be big enough to be able to accommodate a single standing kid. Now associate a particular action with each shape – e.g. hop on one leg in a triangle, jump thrice in a square and so on. The kids will have fun prancing around the shapes; hopping, skipping and jumping.

The key in all these activities is ‘the fun factor’. Because when it comes to math with these little kids, teaching moments need to be disguised with play (read more here). Do you have any interesting ‘fun’ ideas that can be added to this list?

3 Fun Math Board Games

"Goose Game" by Skitterphoto is licensed under CC by 2.0

Sum Swamp: Designed for ages 5 and above, Sum Swamp is actually a journey through a swamp which includes addition and subtraction calculations, based on the numbers resulting from rolling the dice. 2-4 players can play this at a time. You could take the Crocodile Short Cut if you’re clever with your numbers, or be caught in an Endless Loop of sorts.

Sumoku: A sort of a numbered crossword board game ideal for kids above 8 years, Sumoku begins with the rolling of a dice, which decides the ‘key number’. Then eight tiles are drawn by a player, followed by tiles added to the board wherein all rows and columns must be a sum to a multiple of the ‘key number’ decided in the beginning. Sounds complicated? Well, it isn’t really, once you start playing. A good form of math practice for young kids.

Pizza Fraction Fun: Identifying basic fraction denominations can now be a fun game for kids in the form of Pizza Fraction Fun. Meant for ages 6-12, it consists of seven different games for kids that start with the basics and eventually progress up to the concept of addition and subtraction of fractions, all by building pizzas. A round of actual pizzas after the game could make it a perfect weekend treat!

Spooky Math Fun with Pumpkin Cookies

Last year for Halloween, we talked about learning basic geometrical shapes with some spooky fun here. This time around, let’s bake some scrumptious pumpkin chip cookies on the occasion and learn about the basics of multiplication alongside.

The recipe is pretty simple. I haven’t mentioned the proportions of each ingredient here since most of us are pretty familiar with the basics of baking cookies and this one is no different. Preheat oven to about 200 degrees C. Have your baking tray greased and ready while you whisk together sugar, vegetable oil, milk, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. In another, mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the mixture from the first bowl to the second, stirring gently all the while. A generous addition of chocolate chips comes next. Scoop out spoonfuls onto the baking tray compartments and bake for 10-15 minutes until they turn into a yummy golden brown.

“Bake” by StockSnap is licensed under CC by 2.0

Now for the math. If it’s a preschooler, say each number out loud when you scoop out the spoonfuls onto the tray and let her repeat after you. Once done, allow your kid to count how many of them are in a row (since it’ll be a small number, they should be able to do it with a little bit of help). For slightly older kids, ask them to estimate how many cookies there are altogether on the baking tray without actually counting them out (multiplication tables – say, 4 rows and 5 columns). If you wish to introduce the concept of fractions to them, break a ready cookie into half and then subsequently into four quarters and demonstrate it to them, making sure you have a piece of paper and pencil handy alongside to write and explain how fractions work.

The goal is to make it a fun task and get their basics right in the process. Whether their answers turn out to be right or wrong, it’s a win-win situation all along since everyone is going to have yummy cookies to eat at the end! Happy Halloween!

3 Fun Ways to Teach Kids Math at Home

Math is actually not as dreaded a subject as it is made out to be, provided a teacher inculcates a sense of understanding in kids at an early age. Most people who talk about suffering from ‘math phobia’ have the same underlying problem – they never really grasped the basics correctly. Hence, it is important for kids to get their facts and figures in place right from the very beginning.

Though there is no dearth of cool math games like these that help kids in learning math in a fun way, here are 3 simple ways you could help them with the subject at home itself.

1. Playing with Lego

“Duplo” by WerbeFabrik is licensed under CC by 2.0

Playing with Lego bricks can be an enjoyable way of introducing kids to the basics of math, right from preschool. The colorful bricks are captivating and the kids stay gainfully occupied while playing too since their hands and minds are busy all the while. Here’s how you can begin with a simple game: Use an erasable marker to number 6 bricks of different colors from 1-6 (there can be as many series of 1-6 as there are kids playing). Leave them loose in a pile.

Take a dice and ask your little one to roll it. Ask her to then say the number out loud and look for a brick with the same number. The game is simple – roll the dice, recognize the number, find the corresponding numbered brick and build your tower. Then it is the next player’s turn to do the same. The game continues till one of the players completes her tower with 6 bricks. She is then declared the winner. This is just an example of a very basic Lego game to teach preschoolers number identification.

(Note: In case a number shows up on the dice which has already been rolled in the past, the said player skips her turn.)

2. Gardening with Math

“Child” by sdumas29 is licensed under CC by 2.0

Planting your garden for the season is a fun task, as well as a good opportunity to get your kids to learn some gardening and brush up on their math skills. Bonus: They can get their hands as messy as they want! Start by handing your kids a measuring tape and asking them to take and note down measurements – the size of the planting box, how much space a particular plant needs, and the like. Also, involve your kids in counting out the seeds and/or packets of other supplies too that are required.

Next comes the planting part. Allow your child to use a ruler to measure out the depth at which the seeds need to be planted. Most seed packets have this part mentioned on the backs. Space out the rows between seeds appropriately using the ruler for it as well. Finally, it is a good idea for your child to maintain and update a notebook to record, say, the weekly growth of plants in centimeters and inches.

3. Playing Cards

“Card” by Pexels is licensed under CC by 2.0

Card games can be a good way to spend quality time with the family. You could also use it as an opportune time for your kids to practice basic math calculations. For instance, the game called Go Fish! can help with addition skills. Or else, the evergreen Memory game played using a single deck of playing cards can never go wrong. You could play it like this: Decide on a featured number and remove all cards from the deck that are higher or more than that specific number. Shuffle as usual, placing all cards face down on a flat table.

Each player has to flip two cards from anywhere to find a matching pair. Say, the number you’ve chosen is 7. Then its pairs could be (6+1), (5+2), (4+3) and so on. The player who manages to find the maximum number of matching pairs emerges as the winner.

Simple and fun, aren’t they? Do add more ideas to this list if you too use some fun methods to teach kids math at home.

Learn Math, Earn Screen Time

Image courtesy: Scholastic

Screen time refers to the use of any electronic screen such as television, laptops or desktops, DVDs, tablets, smartphones or electronic games of any sort. With kids preferring to spend their time glued to screens for long hours rather than playing games with their peers outdoors, screen time is becoming a big problem for parents in the present day and age.

A group of researchers at Grand Valley State University in the US has come up with a novel educational approach to help such parents – an app called ‘Test 4 Time!’ that tests kids with age-appropriate math questions. One question correctly answered on the app translates to one minute of screen time for the kids. The greater the number of correct answers to math problems, the more time a child gets to spend online.

Tim Smock residing in Forest Hills is to be credited for this idea in the first place. “I would write down 20 math questions and tell my son that if he answered them, he could have one hour on the Wii. I wondered if this process could be automated and came up with the idea for Test 4 Time!”

A wonderfully innovative idea – learn math and you get to earn screen time!

Math & Mother's Day

“Seamless” by Prawny is licensed under CC by 2.0

What do Mother’s Day and Math have in common? Well, nothing actually, except perhaps the starting letter ‘M’ in both. However, new age educators are coming up with newer ideas to incorporate the much-feared math into every occasion, thus leaving no opportunity unexplored for kids to get familiar with the subject in novel ways. For instance, math-inspired lessons and activities for Mother’s Day such as those mentioned below.

• Worksheets with numerical problems related to Mother’s Day. For example: ‘Daisy went to the store to buy her mom some chocolates for Mother’s Day. She had a $10 bill, a $20 bill and a $50 bill. A box of chocolates costs $60. Will she be able to buy the chocolates for her mom with the money she has?’
• Mother’s Day color by number worksheets for younger kids. A potted plant or a bouquet of flowers with a separate color denoted for each number. The child can fill in the colors, cut out the bouquet (carefully with the help of an adult) and present it to mum.
• Mother’s Day math puzzles (like a cryptogram) for relatively older kids. A quote on moms which needs to be decoded by means of each alphabet being given a particular number in a series of corresponding numbers. Alternatively, this could double up as a greeting card with a message.

Happy Mother’s Day!

·   

Math & Positivity

“Emotions are a powerful driver of students’ learning,” says Reinhard Pekrun, a psychology professor at the University of Munich in Germany. “Students who get positive feedback develop positive emotions, learn better, and their enjoyment further increases. For those who are bored or anxious, performance deteriorates, they get negative feedback, become even more anxious or hopeless, and continue to spiral downward.”

“Numbers” by Clker-Free-Vector-Images is licensed under CC by 2.0

Professor Pekrun was part of a study called Project for the Analysis of Learning and Achievement in Mathematics which studied 3425 students coming from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds during grades 5 to 9. The students were tracked on the basis of their math test scores and other subjects’ grades, followed by an annual survey to know how they felt about a particular subject.

The findings were thus: Highly intelligent students obviously performed well with good grades; those students who had a sense of pride and accomplishment and liked doing their math homework performed even better than the former, whereas bored or anxious students had the lowest grades in the said subjects.

The key here lies in getting rid of the boredom or what is known as ‘math anxiety’ in a large number of kids. Developing interactive ways (activities and games) to get them playing about with numbers instead of mere worksheets or problems will inculcate a sense of enjoyment in them and hopefully drive away the fear of math from their minds. After all, math is all about positivity – a positive attitude in dealing with numbers and their problems is but a prerequisite to enjoying math.

All about Time Zones in the New Year

Ours is a family that travels quite a bit. Hence, the kids know that places that are considerably far from each other can have different times, at the same time (that’s how they like to put it). But how and why? They seem to be a bit puzzled about this and hence I decided to begin the New Year by giving them a very basic explanation for the same, till they are old enough to learn in detail about time zones tending to follow the boundaries of countries and subcontinents and so on. Here goes.

“World” by qimono is licensed under CC by 2.0

Once upon a time long ago, the people on the earth believed that our planet was flat. They assumed that our earth was like a log floating in water (the oceans and the seas) and every place on earth had the same clock and the same time. But then, as science progressed, we came to know that the earth was indeed spherical – that is how we have day and night one after the other, because the round earth rotates on its axis (a globe and a torch for demonstration would work here). This way the sun shines only on one half of the earth at a time. And so, it couldn’t be possible for every place on earth to have the same time – after all, it would be breakfast time in one country and bedtime for a country that is right on the opposite side of the globe!

Then came along a couple of scientists who did the smart thing – they divided up our planet into 24 different time zones – same as there are 24 hours to a day. Now what if the entire earth had just one time zone, as was thought to be the case earlier? Well, afternoon would then not have meant the same thing for people living in London, Dubai or India – it could mean morning for some, evening for others and the middle of the night for someone else!

Yuletide Fun with Geometry

“GingerbreadHouse” by NadinLisa is licensed under CCby 2.0

Agreed, the holiday season is not a time to talk or teach or have anything at all to do with studies, least of all learning math. But then, what if your teacher told you that your Christmas project is something to do with learning geometry? Well, that’s exactly what Ms. Reeves math class at Kinston school was asked to do – draw graphs for their Christmas project. However, it’s not as bad as it sounds; their Christmas project was made up of geometry, graphs, baking and at the same time, was scrumptious too. Have a look at this video and you’ll know how.

Who would say no to such a yummy Christmas project? When the competition entails building the ultimate gingerbread house, who wouldn’t go all out to ensure his or her house is the tastiest? Especially when parents are involved in the task, it gets all the more fun. Chocolate roofs and candy canes, what better way to kick off the Yuletide spirit and the holidays?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

Spooky Math Fun with Shapes

Math always was spooky. I see a wide majority of people out there (including myself) vigorously nodding their heads in approval! Well, why not use this ‘spooky math’ to teach your little one the basics of geometrical shapes this Halloween?

Here’s a fun activity to do, which also doubles up as a craft. We all enjoy making jack-o’-lanterns out of pumpkins in order to keep them on our porches outdoors for Halloween. Let’s try our hand at making paper jack-o’-lanterns too for a change; they’ll look good adorning the walls indoors, especially the kids’ rooms!

Image courtesy: Toddler Approved

Simply draw the outline of a large pumpkin on a white sheet of paper and let your child color it a bright orange. Now cut it out. On a separate sheet of paper, draw various other basic shapes – triangles, squares, rectangles, circles, semi-circles, even a star or two. Ask your child to identify each shape and color all the similar ones a particular shade – such as yellow for circles, black for squares, blue for stars and so on. Once that is done, you could cut out the shapes as well; these can now be glued on to the orange pumpkin from the first step and, lo and behold, you have a cheery-looking multi-colored pumpkin grinning back at you!

Have a good, spooky Halloween!

Playing Around with Math

“Mathematics” by OpenClipart-Vectors is licensed under CC by 2.0

These days I’m trying to teach my daughter to ‘play with numbers’. Right from using building blocks to count from 1 to 10, playing board games like snakes and ladders in which one has to count ahead spaces at every step and add numbers together to mastering the fundamentals of the basic number line through a simple game of hopscotch, we’re doing it all. And it’s a whole lot of fun.

We also have an abacus at home now. Earlier I was of the view that it could only be used to do simple addition and subtraction; but then on reading more about this fun calculating tool, we’ve started doing more complex operations like multiplication and division too, albeit of small numbers.

We try and include math in our everyday activities – in the kitchen learning about volumes, playing online math games on the computer and the like. Kids (at least mine) tend to develop a natural aversion to the subject if they are made to sit down with a list of problems on a worksheet and asked to solve them. The key to making the subject fun is to involve imaginative play in math, something that is a part of their everyday routine and yet is enjoyable.

3 Fun Ways to Prevent the Math Summer Slide

According to a research carried out by Oxford Learning, an online program which caters to the learning needs of students of different age groups, math skills equivalent to approximately 2.6 months of learning are lost by kids over the summer vacation. What’s more, if kids and parents manage to put in just 2-3 hours per week towards the subject, this learning loss can be prevented to a considerable extent. Also, Duke University researchers claim that math skills decline more over the summer than academic skills in any other subject.

“Mathematics” by ArtsyBee is licensed under CC by 2.0

Here are a couple of fun math activities that can be used to brush up the kids’ math skills over the summer so that they are able to retain a good part of whatever was taught to them over the past academic year.

Math in the Kitchen

Ask your kid to count how many cookies are there on the cookie tray once it comes freshly baked out of the oven. A good way would be to count the number of rows and columns to calculate the number of cookies, hence helping the kids recall and practice their multiplication tables. Allow your kids to measure out the volume of water that goes into the spaghetti recipe you’re cooking. Younger kids can be made to set the table for dinner and count out the number of forks and knives required for the people at the dining table. The number of pints in a gallon, the number of ounces in a cup, kids can get to know these basics of math measurements like the back of their hand if they help out in the kitchen on an everyday basis.

Math with Games

You can pick from an endless variety of exciting math games to play with your kids and as a family. One of the relatively recent additions to the market is what is known as printable math games – what you need to do is simply download certain e-books from the internet to your computer, print them out and voila! You have a great math game on your hands which you’ve never played before. Alternatively, you could introduce your child to online math games which come in all shapes and sizes and for all ages. Playing card games or board games like the tried-and-tested monopoly are other equally good options which allow you to spend quality time together as a family as well as teach kids the fundamentals of counting, money and otherwise.

Math with Videos

Ever heard of something known as a multiplication rap? Well, it’s an easy and entertaining way to help your kids sing along and learn their multiplication tables in style. Also, doodles are not always just absent-minded scribbles and squiggles drawn on paper. Doodling in math by connecting dots, making binary trees and practicing the Fibonacci series are fun ways kids can practice certain mathematical concepts, be means of watching certain educational videos on sites like YouTube.

Because the only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics, as a parent you just need to make sure some form of math is incorporated into your child’s play – one of the most effective ways to do away with the otherwise inevitable summer slide.

Finger Counting - Good or Bad

To begin with, I unashamedly admit the fact that I use my fingers to count even today. Count as in, not counting on my fingers one by one, but yes, I do take a quick look at my fingers whenever a single digit calculation has to be done, just by way of habit.

And the debate goes on – shouldn’t you wean your child off from counting on her fingers as soon as possible? Naysayers who do not support finger counting put forward the following claims:

• Finger counting is an introductory skill and children should generally move ‘from the less-efficient strategies of using their fingers, to the more efficient strategies without finger use’, according to a certain mathematical development research.
• The whole calculation process slows down as a result of counting on your fingers, and hence the child is put at a disadvantage in class.
• Finger counting closes the kids’ minds to the essential skill of memorizing certain math facts.

That said and done, a recent study conducted by a team at Stanford concluded that:

• Far from being ‘babyish’, the technique is essential for mathematical achievement.
• Stopping students from using their fingers while counting could be akin to halting their mathematical development.
• Visual math is a powerful tool for all learners, especially young kids. When we work on math, our brain activity is distributed among many different networks, which include areas within the ventral and dorsal pathways, both of which are visual. Hence, our mathematical thinking is grounded in visual processing.

Now the next time your child starts to do a basic mathematical calculation on his fingers, don’t discourage her; instead do it along with her. It’s for her good only in the long run.

Live Everyday like it’s Leap Day!

‘Leap year, Leap year, When will you be?

Every FOUR years, THEN you’ll see!

You want more? We do too!

How many more can you leap to?’

This leap year rhyme has been doing the rounds lately – and why not, considering the fact that the present year 2016 is a leap year and it has come after a gap of four whole years! The other day my young son looked at me with a quizzical expression and inquired about the extra day in the month of February this year and how all the kids were talking about it. Here’s how I decided to make the explanation simple for him; perhaps it could help you too in order to explain the same to your kids.

• A leap year is different from other years as in it has 366 days instead of the usual 365 days.
• February is the month with the extra day, with 29 instead of 28 days.
• A leap year occurs every 4 years (here’s a good opportunity to test their multiplication table of 4 and ask them about the next leap year).
• February 29 is called a leap day.
• It takes the earth 365 days to orbit around the sun once - hence an earth year has 365 days in it.

While younger kids would probably be satisfied with digesting this much of information, here’s a wonderful video I discovered about leap years which would be fascinating for older kids:

·        

The Mathematics of Christmas

I recently came across this fascinating video called ‘The Mathematics of Christmas’ which talked about number and figures related to Christmas in the US. Here you go:

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/mathematics-christmas-12398826

• 20% of the Americans generally don’t finish their shopping until Christmas Eve.
• 38,000 miles of ribbon are used to wrap up all those Christmas presents – which is enough to tie five giant bows around the moon.
• There are 1 million square acres of Christmas trees growing in America’s forests – more acres than the entire state of Rhode Island.
• Anthem (Arizona) is home to the nation’s largest Christmas tree, standing at a 110 feet – this is equal to 18 Santas tall and is decorated with more than 50,000 lights.
• In each year, about 11,000 letters addressed to the Big Man in Red arrive at the post office in the town of Santa Claus, Indiana.
• In order to visit all those good little boys and girls on Christmas Eve, Santa and his eight reindeer need to travel at a speed of 650 miles per second.