Playful Math for the Summer

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
playful dog at the beach

I continue to dig myself out of the avalanche of tasks that built up during the years that I spent mostly down south with my mom as she was weakening.

But here are two tidbits of mathy fun that came across my desk recently, which I think you’ll enjoy…

Numberhive Place Value

I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love the Numberhive game. They recently posted a series of print-and-play freebies for their new place value variation.

DiceCulus Core Game — Mini PnP

This cool-looking game is in prelaunch on the crowdfunding site Gamefound, but the creator has posted a free Mini Print & Play version you can download now, suitable for prealgebra and up. (The full game will have multiple variations, including a preschool level.)

Math Journaling and Games

Finally, the Math Journaling Adventures books and kids’ gear are now live in my store, and all my math game books are still on sale through the month of June.

Have fun playing math with your kids!

 
* * *

Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Join my free email newsletter.

This blog is reader-supported. If you’d like to help fund the blog on an on-going basis, then please join me on Patreon for mathy inspiration, tips, and an ever-growing archive of printable activities.

“Playful Math for the Summer” copyright © 2025 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © damedeeso / Depositphotos.

Musings: Mental Math Is the Key to Algebra

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Painting by Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky, public domain

“If you stay with meaningful mental arithmetic longer, you will find that your child, if she is average, can do problems much more advanced than the level listed for her grade. You will find that she likes arithmetic more.

    “And when she does get to abstractions, she will understand them better.

      “She will not need two or three years of work in primary grades to learn how to write out something like a subtraction problem with two-digit numbers. She can learn that in a few moments of time, if you just wait.”

      —Ruth Beechick, An Easy Start in Arithmetic

      What Do You Mean by Mental Math?

      Mental math is doing calculations in your head, with perhaps the aid of scratch paper or a whiteboard to jot down notes along the way.

      But you cannot simply transfer the standard pencil-and-paper calculations to a mental chalkboard. That’s far too complicated.

      Continue reading Musings: Mental Math Is the Key to Algebra