Running Out of Time

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Help your children discover how much fun thinking hard can be!

You have slightly more than 24 hours left to grab the early-release 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal book on Kickstarter and pick up some great discounts on the rest of my playful math journaling books — including the popular Math Prompt Task Card sets.

Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter

But act fast! The deal disappears Thursday evening, U.S. Central Time.

“It doesn’t matter whether your students are homeschooled or in a classroom, distance-learning or in person. Everyone can enjoy the experience of playing around with math.”

—Denise Gaskins
Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter

[Side note: The free Math Journaling Sampler file will remain available on the Kickstarter page even after the campaign ends.]

Math Game Monday: Mystery Number Challenge

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

This cooperative “game” is a fun way to play with prealgebra concepts, even with young children.

“Mystery Number Challenge” is an excerpt from Let’s Play Math: How Families Can Learn Math Together—and Enjoy It, which is available as an ebook at my publisher’s store (where you get all formats for one low price, and I earn higher no-middleman royalties) or through other online retailers, or by special request through your local library. Read more about my playful math books here.

The Math Game Monday posts will be available for one week only. If you missed this one, explore the links in the sidebar. There are more than forty free games scattered around the blog. Have fun playing math with your kids!

Playful Math Carnival 149 via Nature Study Australia

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Check out the latest carnival of playful math:

Each monthly Playful Math Education Blog Carnival brings you a great new collection of puzzles, math conversations, teaching tips, and all sorts of mathy fun. It’s like a free online magazine of mathematical adventures, helpful and inspiring no matter when you read them.

Johanna put together a beautiful collection of mathematical resources and activities for studying math in nature, biometric data, journaling, math poetry, and other delights.

Click Here to Read the Carnival Blog

Help Us Keep the Carnival Going

The Playful Math Blog Carnival wants you!

The carnival is a joint effort. We depend on our volunteer hosts to collect blog posts and write the carnival each month.

Putting together a blog carnival can be a lot of work, but it’s a great opportunity to share the work of bloggers you admire and to discover new math-friends online. I love that part of being a host!

Classroom teachers, homeschoolers, college professors, unschoolers, or anyone who likes to play around with math — if you would like to take a turn hosting the carnival, please speak up.

Math Game Monday: Chomp

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

This is a fun strategy game for students of all ages. Who doesn’t like chocolate?

“Chomp” is an excerpt from 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal, which is available for a limited-time preorder through the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter. Discover how to help your children enjoy learning math through the richly creative exploration of numbers, shapes, and patterns.

The Math Game Monday posts will be available for one week only. If you missed this one, explore the links in the sidebar. There are more than forty free games scattered around the blog. Have fun playing math with your kids!

Playful Math Journaling: Try It for Yourself

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Math journaling helps students enjoy the adventure of learning math through playful exploration.

In a math journal, children explore their own ideas about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

All they need is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a good prompt to launch their mathematical journey.

Give It a Try

You can launch your family’s math journaling adventure today. Download the free 16-page printable (pdf) Math Journaling Sampler, which includes:

  • “Five Types of Journaling Prompts,” a short excerpt with example prompts from my new book 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal
  • Four sample task cards from the accompanying series of printable Math Prompt Task Card books
  • And a few pages from my Adventurous Student Journals (also known as the Math Rebel journals) to get kids writing

Click here for the Math Journaling Sampler

Back the Kickstarter

And if you like what you see, I’d love to have your support for my Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter project. Check it out:

Math Game Monday: Jenna’s Skip-Counting Game

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

This game is a great way to build mental math and strategic thinking skills with students of all ages.

“Jenna Laib’s Skip-Counting Game” is free on this website for one week only. It’s an excerpt from 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal, which is available for a limited-time preorder through the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter. Discover how to help your children enjoy learning math through the richly creative exploration of numbers, shapes, and patterns.

The Math Game Monday posts will be available for one week only. If you missed this one, explore the links in the sidebar. There are more than forty free games scattered around the blog. Have fun playing math with your kids!

Playful Math Journaling with a Cat

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

As queen of the house, Cimorene insists on being involved in anything that happens in her domain. This includes promoting the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter.

So she created a cat math journaling prompt to help your children experience the fun of playing around with math.

But first, she encourages you to visit the Kickstarter page and download the free 16-page printable Math Journaling Sampler file. Your kids will love solving Cimorene’s puzzle on one of the parchment-style pages!


[The free download will always be there, even after the Kickstarter project ends.]
Visit the Kickstarter

Here is Cimorene’s Puzzle

“The Princess of Cats has a luxuriously soft tail about 12 inches (30 cm) long. Her tail is three times the length of her noble head. Her beautiful, furry body is as long as head and tail together. How long is the Princess from her delicate nose to the tip of her majestic tail?”

So, how does math journaling work? What do children do with a problem like this?

They may want to make a list of the things they know from the story. Perhaps they will draw a picture of the cat and label the proportions. Each will take their own approach to figure it out.

And then the best part of any math journal prompt is when kids make their own math.

  • Can they write a new puzzle about their own pet?
  • Or about their favorite animal?

Encourage your children to share their math creations with their friends and family.

Cimorene would love to read it, too! If you share your story in the comments section below, I will be sure to show it to her.

And remember to back the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter so your whole family can enjoy the adventure of playing with math!

Math Play for All Ages

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Are you looking for new ways to explore math with your kids?

Would you like an easy, no-prep resource for creative problem-solving, number play, math art, word problems, mini-essays, math poetry, geometry investigations, research projects, and much more?

I’ve just launched a Kickstarter project for people to preorder my new book, 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal. It just might transform your child’s experience of math.

Visit the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter

In a math journal, children explore their own ideas about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

Scroll down the Kickstarter project page to download the free 16-page printable “Math Journaling Sampler” file. It includes one of my all-time favorite math activities. [The Sampler will remain available after the Kickstarter campaign ends.]

If you like what you see, I’d love to have your support. Please help share the project and encourage everyone to play math with their kids!

For more math journaling tips and information, scroll through the Math Journals posts on my blog.

Playful Math Journaling: Preorder on Kickstarter

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Are you looking for new ways to explore math with your kids?

Would you like an easy, no-prep resource for creative problem-solving, number play, math art, word problems, mini-essays, math poetry, geometry investigations, research projects, and much more?

I’ve just launched a Kickstarter project for people to preorder my new book, 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal. It just might transform your child’s experience of math.

In a math journal, children explore their own ideas about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

Scroll down the Kickstarter project page to download the free 16-page printable “Math Journaling Sampler” file. It includes one of my all-time favorite math activities.

If you like what you see, I’d love to have your support. The more people we can get to share the project in the early days, the more likely Kickstarter will join in and promote it to new readers.

Have fun playing math with your kids!

Visit the Playful Math Journaling Kickstarter page