Carnival 150: Keeping Playful Math Alive

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Welcome to the 150th edition of the Playful Math Education Blog Carnival — a smorgasbord of delectable tidbits of mathy fun. It’s like a free online magazine devoted to learning, teaching, and playing around with math from preschool to high school.

Bookmark this post, so you can take your time browsing.

There’s so much playful math to enjoy!

We didn’t have a volunteer host for October, so I’m squeezing this in between extended-family situations that require my time. If you’d like to help keep the Playful Math Carnival alive, we desperately need hosts for 2022!

Try These Sum-Difference Puzzles

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 150th edition. This puzzle comes from the archives of Iva Sallay’s delightful Find the Factors blog.

Copy the puzzle diagrams below. Write numbers in the boxes to make true statements going uphill, and use the same numbers to make true statements going downhill:

Six has two factor pairs. One of those factor pairs adds up to 5, and the other one subtracts to 5. Can you place those factors in the proper boxes to complete the first puzzle?

150 has six factor pairs. One of those factor pairs adds up to 25, and another one subtracts to 25. If you can identify those factor pairs, then you can complete the second puzzle!

How are the two puzzles related?

Iva also posts one of my favorite multiplication puzzles, her scrambled times tables. Check out puzzle #150 in this post (it’s Level 3, or medium difficulty) and then browser her site for plenty more.

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

Math Game Monday: Fifteen

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

This strategy-based card game challenges players to make a simple sum. Can you find three cards that add up to 15?

“Fifteen” is an excerpt from Addition & Subtraction: Math Games for Elementary Students, 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!

Math Game Monday: What Two Numbers?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In this conversational problem-solving game, students challenge each other to find the secret numbers that fit certain clues.

“What Two Numbers?” is an excerpt from Prealgebra & Geometry: Math Games for Middle School, 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!

Math Game Monday: Domino Bond

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

This game uses double-6 dominoes to practice simple addition for young children. But it’s also a great strategy game for players of any age.

“Domino Bond” is an excerpt from Math You Can Play Combo: Number Games for Young Learners, 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!

Math Game Monday: Gomoku

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Here is one of my all-time favorite strategy games. The instructions below call for a hundred chart, but you can also play it tic-tac-toe-style on any paper.

“Gomoku” is an excerpt from 70+ Things To Do with a Hundred Chart: Number, Shape, and Logic Activities from Preschool to Middle School, 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!