Fun Math Ideas

Beach balls
Algebra CUPS
Math Coupon Books
Multiplication or Addition Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up
Toothpick Units
Perfect People
Just a Minute
Calendar Patterns
Palindromes
Everyday Estimation
Graph It!
A Word’s Worth

Beach Balls

The Beach Ball questions or phrases are prompts that can be addressed to individuals or small groups and can be adapted to any math concept or problem. The purpose of these questions is to encourage student thinking. They can also be used as writing activities, assessment, or for extensions.

A question is written with a permanent marker on each section of an ordinary beach ball.
The group forms a large circle after reading.
The leader calls out a name and tosses the ball to that person.
The person chooses to answer any question on the ball.
That person then calls out another player’s name and tosses them the ball.
That player may choose to add to the last answer or to answer a different question.
This continues until all questions have been answered.
This activity can also be reinforced at home with just a parent and one child passing the ball back and forth.

The following are some examples of questions that would be appropriate to use:

What do you think?
How would you explain this problem to a student who doesn’t understand?
How would you solve this problem another way?
How can you be sure that you are correct?
How would you explain your thinking?
How would you draw a picture or build a model to illustrate?
What is something you don’t understand about the problem?
What else would you like to know about this concept?
How do you know?
How would you explain this to a younger student?
What is the most important idea or fact you learned while working on this problem?

Algebra CUPS

Algebra CUPS is an “addition” partner activity that can be adapted to any math level. The purpose of the activity is to improve student understanding of the value of numbers while accessing higher level thinking skills.

You will need a small paper cup, counters or tokens (dry beans, macaroni, buttons, pennies, etc. work nicely), and paper and pencil for recording.

Delegate jobs: Cup Person and Math Expert.

Pick a number and count out that many counters—for example, 24.
Have Math Expert to close his or her eyes while the Cup Person hides a specified number of counters under the paper cup—for example, 7. Leave the remaining counters out in full view—which in this case would be 17.
The Math Expert opens his or her eyes, determines the number of counters under the cup and writes the math sentence—for example, 17 + 7 = 24.
After the missing amount is given, the Cup Person picks up the cup to verify the answer.
Have the Math Expert explain how he or she knew the missing amount.
Switch jobs for the next round.

Math Coupon Books

Math Coupon Books are gifts that parents may choose to make and give to their child. Or, the parent may help their child create coupon books for other people.

Math Coupon Books should celebrate the fun and challenge of math while emphasizing its use and value in the real world.

Create your own book design from paper.
Decide on the recipient of the coupon book.
On each coupon page, write the special “coupon” item for the recipient to “turn in.”

Suggestions of coupon pages:

This coupon entitles the bearer to receive:

· 20 minutes of board or card game time alone with mom (dad, sister, etc.)

· An afternoon with mom (dad, sister, etc.) to plan the dinner menu and help with the shopping and cooking

· One card or board game purchase from a local store.

· A family board or card game night

· A trip to a home improvement store to take a “how-to” class—like building a bird house

· A trip to the bank to set up a savings account

Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up

Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up is a partner game for practicing multiplication facts with a little strategy built in for fun! The following directions are for facts to 36 (which includes factor pairs from 1 to 6.) The game board and factor cards can be modified for any level simply by having the student write in the products on a blank board and the factors on index cards.

You will need a Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up board (like the one attached), two 6-sided dice (or 2 sets of cards with the digits 1 to 6 written on them), counters or markers to cover (remember buttons, dry beans, etc. work great.)

Take turns rolling dice (or drawing 2 cards from the face-down set.)
On your turn find the product and cover that product one time on the board.
First player to get four in a row wins.

For younger students Addition Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up is played the same way. Use the Addition Tic-Tac-Toe board, two 10-sided dice for sums to 18 (or 2 sets of cards with the digits 0 to 9 written on them.)

Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up

1	20	3	5	15	8	2	12
9	25	2	24	5	1	30	6
4	5	20	8	36	18	5	15
16	3	10	12	25	5	4	1
24	1	2	18	15	4	16	24
16	36	10	1	12	6	25	1
12	25	1	8	5	12	4	18
18	4	20	3	24	30	6	36

Addition Tic-Tac-Toe Mix-Up

1	7	3	5	15	8	2	12
9	6	2	10	5	1	16	6
4	5	11	8	16	18	5	15
16	3	10	12	13	5	4	1
7	11	2	18	15	4	16	14
16	7	10	1	12	6	17	11
12	17	1	8	5	12	4	18
18	4	14	3	13	7	6	16

Toothpick Units

Toothpick Units helps develop understanding of the meaning of units of measurement by using non-standard units. It also helps increase a student’s ability to form reasonable estimates.

You will need ten toothpicks.

Have the student imagine the toothpicks laid out end to end on your table.
Estimate how far they would reach. Have him lay a pencil down to mark where he thinks they will end.
Then have the student lay the toothpicks out to see how close he came to his estimate.
Try the activity again with ten paper clips, ten beans, and ten of other objects.

Extension:

Find the length of other objects using toothpicks.
Have the student draw pictures to show what he finds.
Encourage the student to estimate half units when this is appropriate.
Now have him measure the length of objects using just one toothpick.
Have the students move it carefully along the length of something, counting as he goes.
Measure some other objects this way.

Perfect People

Perfect People is a fun way to explore measurements of real people. For students to be able to measure they must have multiple opportunities to practice measuring. This activity also reveals some interesting relationships about measurements of the human body.

You will need string or ribbon for each member of the family being measured and paper and pencil for recording results.

Have your family help each other cut a string or ribbon that is exactly the height of each person. Each person should use his or her own string or ribbon to complete the rest of the activity.
Use your own string or ribbon to find out if you are a “tall rectangle,” a “short rectangle,” or a “perfect square.”
Have someone else help hold your string or ribbon along your outstretched hands from finger tip to finger tip.
- If the string is longer than your reach, you are a tall rectangle.
- If the string is shorter than your reach, you are a short rectangle.
- If the string is about the same length as your reach, then you are a perfect square.
- Record the members of your family on a chart.

Next use your string or ribbon to compare your height to the distance around (circumference) of you head, waist, and wrist. Write a description of what you found. Compare your results with others in your family.

Just a Minute!

Just a Minute will give students a variety of experiences involving clocks, time and estimating passage time.

You will need a watch with a second hand.

Have your student close his or her eyes while you watch the second hand on a watch.
Have her open her eyes when she thinks a minute has gone by. Talk about how close she came? Can you practice and come closer?
Try 30 seconds.
Time your student doing some of the following activities. Then have her time you.
- Standing on one foot
- Brushing teeth
- Touch knee and then shoulder 15 times with one hand—try again with both hands to see if there is a difference
- Getting dressed in the morning
- Tying shoes
- Toasting a piece of bread
Count how many times she can do the following in 15 seconds
- Snap fingers
- Blink eyes
- Write her name

Calendar Patterns

Calendar Patterns provides opportunities to explore numerical patterns and develop an appreciation for the elegance of math in the real world.

You will need a calendar (use any month), pencil and scratch paper.

Count the number of Sundays, Mondays, and so on, there are in the month. Do some days occur more times than others? Which ones?
Make a list of Tuesday dates, Wednesday dates, and Saturdays. Dan you find the patterns in these dates? If the first Tuesday is the 5^th, how can you find the date of the third Tuesday without looking at the calendar?
Look at a different month and compare the patterns. Are they the same?
Look for dates in different months that occur on the same day of the week. Which months start on the same day of the week? Would this be different in leap year?
Put a rectangle around three consecutive dates on your calendar. Find their sum and compare the sum to three times the middle number. Try the same with a different set of three consecutive numbers. Try the same with five consecutive numbers, comparing the sum of the five numbers to five times the middle number.
Put a rectangle around a 3x3 square with 9 numbers on your calendar. Compare the sum of these numbers with nine times the center number.

Palindromes

This Palindrome activity will help develop accuracy in addition while amazing you and your student with endless possibilities.

Younger students will enjoy just thinking of or writing numbers and words that are palindromes.

You will need paper and pencil.

A palindrome is a number (or word) that reads the same forward and backward—such as 33, 868, 6006, 52825, mom, dad, pop, racecar, etc.

43 is not a palindrome—BUT with a little addition 43 can be transformed into a palindrome:

+ 34

77 IS a 1-step palindrome!

43 was added to 43 written backwards (34) and resulted in the palindrome—77. We call 43 a 1-step palindrome because we can turn it into a palindrome in one step.

Some numbers take longer—for example, 59:

+95

154

+451

605

+506

1111 59 is a 3-step palindrome!

Have your student explore other numbers and find out how many steps it takes to make each number become a palindrome.

Keep a running list of palindrome words and numbers at home!

Everyday Estimation

Everyday Estimation activities will get your family thinking about estimation and what a valuable skill it is to have in daily life. People shopping in stores estimate the cost of their purchases. Repairmen estimate the costs of repairs. Contractors estimate the cost of buildings.

Estimation is a powerful tool in giving students control over more formal mathematics. When a person stops to estimate before solving a problem, the problem itself makes more sense and becomes more manageable.

You will need a paper and pencil.

The following list of questions is only a start. With practice you will discover many additional possibilities. For each question, make a guess, write it down, and then find the answer to the question.

How many times a day is the refrigerator door opened? Tape a piece of paper to the front of the refrigerator, and make a tally mark each time it is opened. How close did you come?
How many letters of the alphabet are NOT in the names of the days of the week?
How many steps from the front door to the back door or the back of your house?
How many pennies does the average adult have in his or her possession? Ask at least 10 adults to give you an answer.
How many 1’s are there on a calendar?
How many pages are in your dictionary?
How many books are there in the school library? Count the books on one shelf, then count the number of shelves.

Graph It

Graph It provides multiple opportunities for students to practice gathering information and organizing it into graphic format. Students need to be able to make, read, and interpret graphs to become informed consumers and citizens. More than two-thirds of people in different jobs use statistical graphs at work.

You will need large paper, pens, pencils, colored paper, scissors, glues, and a topic from the attached page (or help your student make up one of his or her own.)

Have your student follow these guidelines:

Choose a topic.
Discuss how to collect information: Who will he ask? How will he keep track of the answer?
Collect answers to the questions from at least 10 people.
Make a graph to represent the information. Use a picture, bar, line, circle, or invented graph.
Use large sheets of paper to display the graph. Use felt pens or paper cutout shapes to show the tally. Make it easy to understand and interesting.
Ask each person who looks at the graph to write a sentence about it. Turn the sentences into questions and display them on the graph. For example: If it is a graph about favorite fruits, someone might say, “There were more bananas chosen than apples.” A matching question might be “How many more bananas were chosen than apples?”
Have others see if they can answer the questions on the graph.

Graph It—Survey Topics

1. How many brothers do you have? How many sisters?

2. How far do you travel to go to school?

3. What is the first letter of the name of the street you live on?

4. Do you live on a street, avenue, boulevard, lane, road…?

5. In what state or country were you born?

6. How many letters are there in you first name? Your last name?

7. What is your favorite color?

8. What is the length of your left thumbnail?

9. What is your shoe size?

10. What would you like to be when you grow up?

11. What is the last digit of your phone number?

12. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

13. Who is you favorite singer?

14. What time did you go to bed last night?

15. What did you have for breakfast?

16. How many aunts and uncles do you have?

17. When you fold your arms which arm is on top?

18. On what day of the week were you born?

19. What is your height?

20. What is your favorite food?

A Word’s Worth

A Word’s Worth provides multiple opportunities for students to practice counting money. Understanding the relative value of coins and counting money are critical skills for students to master for survival in the real world.

You will need a “Word’s Worth” Chart (see attached), scrap paper, pencil, and coins.

Have your student use the chart and take the coins beside the letters of his or her name.
Sort the coins and count the money to find the value of the name.
Have your student use the chart and take the coins beside the letters of your name.
Have them compare the values of the two names and estimate the total of the combined values.

Variations:

Have your student find the value of the favorite animals and order them by value.

Have your student find the value of spelling words, friends’ names, etc.