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.

Traditional Math Games - Connect 4

I was playing Connect 4 the other day with my niece. Our age didn't matter – we both had equal parts of fun and equal parts of brain busting. It is such a simple game, it’s sometimes mind blowing to know just how much critical thinking you can teach or learn from a few pieces of colored coin. It is also a great way to teach counting and math to preschool math learners.

Image Source - http://uncannyflats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/connect-4.jpg

If you haven’t played the game, the premise of Connect 4 is seemingly simple, with players taking it in turns to drop colored coin like pieces into a vertical grid of 7 columns and 6 rows. The winner is the first player to 'Connect 4' pieces either vertically, diagonally or horizontally. This game is a great leveler for adults to play with children, because the simplicity of the play masks the fact that there are actually 4,531,985,219,092 positions and the fact that the game is one in which very real strategies can be developed. There are many different versions of Connect 4 under guises such as Pop out, Pop 10 and 5 in a row, but the original remains the simplest and the best.12:15

I would recommend you buy a game for the classroom or home for those moments when you need a break but don’t mind having a bit of intellectual activity mixed in.