Online Circle 1: Monster parade and Snap it!

Sunday, December 13 2020, 9:00-9:30am. Nia (5), Bab (5), Dil (5), Gye (5), Dem (5) I recycled and extended a lot of the activities I did this summer with my kids for the math club. Task 1: Monster parade Supplies: a few drawing of monsters and animals, some with one foot (a snail or snake),...

Playground permutation

Count how many ways kids (and mom) can sit on rides. You can do it at home with chairs and stuffed animals. A few days ago, we were at a playground with three bouncing rides. I asked the kids how many different ways we could sit on the rides. "Do you mean backwards, sideways, upside...

Bean bag toss

A variation of the classic bean bag toss game that involves numbers. The kids love talking "strategy". Supplies: two bean bags per person, chalk and a sidewalk. What to do: - Get the kids to draw circles (or any other shape) with numbers in them. (Ideally, larger closer circles would have lower numbers but it...

A few serendipitous activities

We had a few math activities that came up more naturally this week. Symmetrical drawing Grab two pieces of chalk and put one in each hand. Draw a heart using both hands/arms at the same time (one hand is doing one side of the heart while the other hand does the other side at the...

Window Pixel Art

Design a picture and use sticky notes to put in on your window. Let your neighbors enjoy it too! Task Supplies: A stack of 3in x 3in sticky notes (I bought a pack of 4 different colored ones for $6.50 or so), Graph paper, color pencils, ruler. What to do: 1) Measure your window (ours...

Prime numbers.

We take 1 block, 2 blocks, 3 blocks, 4 blocks, ... all the way to 12 blocks, and see which number can be made into different flat rectangles. Task Supplies: 12 cubes or blocks of the same dimension What to do: Give your child a number of blocks (I like to go in order and...

Mixing sidewalk paint.

Mix water, food coloring, and flour to make sidewalk paint. I was inspired by my kids' "color equations" and a recipe for sidewalk chalk paint. Why not get them to actually mix color? Task Supplies: - Food coloring (red, yellow, blue), - a tablespoon, - water, - cornstarch (or flour), - 6 small bowls (~4...

Measuring.

We take containers all around the house and see which containers can hold more water. I think Nia is getting tired of counting things. The kids will love this one because they get to use the kitchen sink and play with water. Please keep the information for later activities (I am looking for a 3oz,...

5 choose 2.

Figure out how many ways we can put two balls in 5 spaces. This activity is taken from Math From Three to Seven. Task 1 Supplies: 30 pennies and 20 dimes. Or you can also have 30 objects of one color and 20 of another color (beads, pegs, etc.). What to do: - Invite your...

Dienes shapes and Cuisenaire rods.

Figure out and count how many ways to get to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This activity is a precursor to Pascal's triangle. There are lots of activities with Cuisenaire Rods online. I couldn't find free downloadable templates so I made my own. The smaller ones are 1in by 1in. Here is a printable...