Made Me a Math Bag!

I do not consider myself crafty. Or especially creative. Which makes me all the more proud of this:

Made entirely from scraps--including sections from two pairs of ragbag blue jeans--this "math bag" is designed to carry my junk AND provide game playing and math practice when we're on the go. One side of the bag has pockets in order, 1-9; the other side has the numbers 1-9, but mixed up. I'm guessing that my younger ds will get more use out of the ordered side while my older ds uses the mixed side. My daughter (crafty!) did the lettering and included symbols on each pocket in a pattern for the boys to decipher.

Here's a multiplication fact practice game from this morning:

I asked ds, 8, to select a times table to review. He chose 9. He then did 9x each pocket and "wrote" the answer on the pocket with milk cap math numbers.  As a side note (that probably deserves an entire post), I don't ask my kids to "drill and kill" to learn math facts. My son knows his multiplication facts from using visual models and manipulatives as well as from games like Mythmatical Battles. He knows them. And when/if he doesn't, he has many strategies for finding the answer because he understands what multiplication is. That's what I really care about.

However.

I've found it helpful in my own life (especially in the grocery store!) to be able to use the facts that I know at a fairly fast rate. This isn't necessary; I know some great mathematicians who do not have the times tables memorized. But, for me, it's been helpful. So I give him opportunities to practice what he knows. This is a miniscule part of what we do in math. Very. But if it's fun and easy and take-along, I'm all for it. (BTW, milk caps weigh practically nothing to carry along in a bag like this.)

I have several other easy, take-along games in mind to post later.

This is what comes of a night alone, btw. On New Year's Eve, my 4yo ds went to bed, everyone else left for a church party, and I pretended I was a craft enthusiast. I'd really like to be one. Shhh. Don't tell. ;)

P.S. BTW, a WHOLE LOT of math went into making this bag!!! I didn't use a pattern and had to do a ton of measuring.

P.P.S. I'm glad I learned how to sew...back when "sewing" was still offered in high school course offerings. Shows you how old I am!

P.P.P.S. I've added a new label, "Make-It-Yourself Math" that I'll be adding to. For all you crafties!

Milk Cap Math: MADS Elimination

Here is another milk cap math game for basic +/-/x/division practice. My 15yo daughter thought of the name, MADS Elimination. (Thanks!)

The object?

M: multiply
A: add
D: divide
S: subtract

...in order to eliminate all milk caps on the playing field. (Before you go completely MADs!)

You'll need:

• two sets of 10 milk caps (any color), numbered 1-10
• two, 1-6 dice

To play the game, each player forms a line of milk caps, 1-10. Players take turns rolling the dice. When dice are rolled, the player may choose to multiply, add, divide, or subtract. So, for example:

Dice rolled: 3 and 5

I can:

M: 3 x 5 (won't work since my caps are 1-10)
A: 3 + 5 = 8
D: 5 / 3 = 2.5 (won't work)
S: 5 - 3 = 2

So I could eliminate either the 2 or the 8 cap. If the cap(s) has already been eliminated, I lose my turn. The first player to eliminate all caps, wins.

You can make this a little easier (preschool) by using 6 caps (1-6) and one die (1-6) and removing caps from the table as you roll each number.

You can make this a little harder by using bigger numbers (on the caps) or having the option of rolling multiple dice. For example, you could roll three, 1-6 dice, and make a number sentence using all three numbers. (You could also use dice with different numbers: 0-5, 4-9, etc.)

Example using 3 dice:

I roll: 1,3,4

I could do any number of combinations...I won't list them all, but for example:

3 - 1 + 4

1 x 4 - 3   (You could even talk about order of operations here.)

4 - 1 + 3

Lots and lots of possibilities for this game!

Running out of math caps yet?? ;)

This is another great math workbox game! ;)

Math App Saturday (#2, Add/Subtract/Mult/Divide)

Saturday series on using educational apps for iTouch/iPhone/iPad continues with games that promote skills practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. At posting, they are all FREE...

Math Zombie
In 10 seconds (or without the time mode), combine numbers to equal the number shown. The more numbers you use, the more points you earn. Practices addition facts to 20. All ages enjoy the game. Since you can set the time mode on or off, it also provides a challenge appropriate for a variety of levels.

Math Races
Skills practice in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. Presentation isn't terribly exciting...if you're looking for traditional fact skills practice, this is it.

Burn Your Brain: Math
FAST paced game. You are presented with a math problem and you must immediately say whether the number sentence is true or false. Challenging!

24 Lite
"An addictive new take on a classic math card game! The goal of the game is deceptively simple: make the number 24 using the four given numbers and basic arithmetic -- addition, subtraction, multiplication and division."

Mythmatical Battles

To this day, when you ask my 13-year-old son how he knows what 7 x 8 is, he'll grin and say, "It's the attack power for The Red Dragon."

You know the card games that kids are really into...the ones that have an "attack power" and a "defense power?" Well, the smart folks at Mythmatical Battles came up with a card game that integrates this style of play with multiplication and mythology. (You can get a deck of Celtic/Greek or Norse/Egyptian cards.) At the ages of about 8 to 11, my son LOVED this game. From the Mythmatical Battles website: 

Each player uses his own Mythmatical Battles Deck, with 55 cards featuring gods, heroes, and monsters from Greek, Celtic, Norse, or Egyptian mythology. Every card has one multiplication equation for its attack strength and one equation for its defense strength. A single deck contains all the multiplication equations from 1x1 to 9x9.

The players take turns drawing cards from their decks, placing them face-up to the "Field" (known to grown-ups as the table, desk, or floor), and challenging their opponent's cards.  The card with the highest product wins.  But look out --Magic and Weapon cards can change card strengths, and weaker cards can team up to conquer a powerful card.

It's a small company. Nice folks. If you send them an email message, you get a personal reply from "the minions." They've also come out with a book, Walk Past the Wolf: A Mythmatical Battles Adventure, which I hope to review soon.

You can view information for educators by scrolling down the menu on the Mythmatical Battles website.

If your kids are into this type of card game, they're gonna love this!

P.S. Today I asked my son about this again (I had to edit which card was his actual favorite.) At almost 14, he said, "We need to play this game again. I own it, this game. Zeus is high, too. He's either 8 x 9 or 9 x 9. But I never personally liked Zeus." [He grins.] He continues, "You know what our favorite thing was? Any time we got you to say we didn't have to do math if we played this game." [Chuckles.]