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Podcast: Using Math Journals and Games

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
mother and daughter math journaling

I have a new podcast interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it!

Check out Cindy Rollins’s The New Mason Jar on your favorite podcast app, or listen on the website:

Go to the podcast ❱

Here’s an excerpt…

Writing to Learn

Just as a nature journal records our children’s explorations and discoveries in nature, so a math journal tracks our children’s explorations in the world of mathematics.

    In a math journal, children record their experiences with numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes — not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

      The process of writing forces children to pin down their thoughts, to transform nebulous concepts into firm ideas, to struggle with vagueness and build understanding.

        As William Zinsser says in his book Writing to Learn: “Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know, and what we don’t know.”

          Through journaling, children develop a richer mathematical mindset. They begin to see connections and grow confident in their ability to think through new problems.

          We had a great discussion! Listen to the whole thing:

          Go to the podcast ❱

           
          * * *

          Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store. Or 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.

          “Podcast: Using Math Journals and Games” copyright © 2025 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © AntonLozovoy / Depositphotos.

          Math Journal: Three Quick Number Games

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          photo of family playing a dice game

          Math Journaling Adventures Kickstarter projectHere are three quick math games you can fit in whenever you have a few minutes’ free time. Have fun playing math with your kids!

          And if you enjoy these games, check out my Math Journaling Adventures project to discover how similar playful writing activities can help your students learn mathematics. Preorder your books today!

          Continue reading Math Journal: Three Quick Number Games

          Math Journaling Adventures: It Keeps Getting Better

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          brother and sister journaling together

          Math Journaling Adventures series by Denise GaskinsDid you know that, with our recent stretch goals, each Math Journaling Adventures logbook now features 94 amazing ways to play math with your kids?

          And every pledge pushes us closer to the next bonus, which means more new activities for every backer.

          Don’t miss out on the excitement. Order your copy today:

          Visit the Math Journaling Kickstarter ❱

          Continue reading Math Journaling Adventures: It Keeps Getting Better

          Math Journal: Playing with My Own Ignorance

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          photo of a girl wondering about math

          Mary Everest Boole, wife of English mathematician George Boole, once described algebra as “thinking logically about the fact of our own ignorance.”

          This definition made me chuckle. Like any human being, I am ignorant on many things, but I usually avoid thinking about that.

          So I wondered what would happen if I took Mrs. Boole’s advice and tried thinking logically about my ignorance.

          How far could I go?

          Perhaps you’d like to try this experiment with your children. All you need is a pen and paper or a whiteboard and markers and a bit of curiosity.

          Math Journaling Adventures series by Denise GaskinsAnd if you enjoy this exploration, check out my Math Journaling Adventures project to discover how playful writing activities can help your students learn mathematics. Preorder your books today!

          Continue reading Math Journal: Playing with My Own Ignorance

          Math Adventures Merchandise to Inspire Your Kids

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          Two girls studying

          Math Journaling Adventures series by Denise GaskinsMy new math book series, the Math Journaling Adventures, just launched on Kickstarter.

          And I’m trying several new reward options I’ve never done before. (The “rewards” on Kickstarter are all the various things you can buy with your support pledge.)

          This is going to be so much fun!

          Check it out:

          Math Journaling Adventures

          Continue reading Math Adventures Merchandise to Inspire Your Kids

          Morning Coffee: When Math Makes You Feel Stupid

          Posted on by Denise Gaskins
          Morning Coffee Lifelong Learning for Parents

          One of the best ways we can help our children learn mathematics (or anything else) is to be lifelong learners ourselves.

          Here are a few stories to read as you sip your morning brew. . .

          Download your printable Morning Coffee journal

          This week’s rabbit hole started with a thought-provoking newsletter from Dan Finkel, which led me to his blog…

          “Everyone who learns math is familiar with the experience of being stuck on some new idea or problem, banging their head against it, and then, when they finally understand the answer (or having someone tell them), feeling stupid. There’s something fundamental in the nature of mathematics that makes it easy once you get it, and impossible before.

            “These jumps in comprehension can be thrilling, and they’re one reason math is so fun. But they do create a challenge for the student. The evidence that you learned something hard is that you feel like you’re stupid. That stupidity is essential to the process. Students need to know this feeling is the norm when it comes to learning math.”

            —Dan Finkel and Katherine Cook, The centrality of stupidity in mathematics

            Read more about the value of feeling stupid in this second installment of professional development for homeschooling parents.

             
            * * *

            Are you looking for more creative ways to play math with your kids? Check out all my books, printable activities, and cool mathy merch at Denise Gaskins’ Playful Math Store. Or join my 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.

            “Morning Coffee: When Math Makes You Feel Stupid” copyright © 2025 by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of post copyright © Kira auf der Heide / Unsplash.

            Why I Love the Math Journaling Adventures Series

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins
            Mother and daughter doing homework outdoors

            Math Journaling Adventures series by Denise GaskinsMy Math Journaling Adventures Series is now available on Kickstarter.

            I love these books!

            Writing is one of the best ways to learn math deeply, because wrestling our thoughts into words forces us to figure out what we really believe.

            It’s the natural, no-stress way to build our children’s understanding and confidence.

            Hit the button to visit the campaign and order your books:

            Math Journaling Adventures Kickstarter ❯

            Continue reading Why I Love the Math Journaling Adventures Series

            Math Journaling Adventures Launched: Order Your Copy Today

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins
            Math Journaling Adventures: Creative Logbooks for All Ages

            And so it begins: the Math Journaling Adventures is LIVE on Kickstarter!

            Check It Out ❯

            ⭐ Don’t delay! First-day backers get the best deals. Choose one of the Earlybird rewards:

            • Earlybird 2-Logbook Sets in Digital, Paperback, Spiral-Bound, or Hardcover
            • Earlybird Everything Bundles in Digital or Paperback

            To have a successful campaign, we need plenty of people to back the project early. The more supporters we get in these early days, the more likely the Kickstarter platform folks will help spread the news for us.

            Continue reading Math Journaling Adventures Launched: Order Your Copy Today

            Playful Math 179: Our Sweet Sixteen Carnival

            Posted on by Denise Gaskins

            Welcome to the sweet-16 birthday edition of the Playful Math Carnival. Originally called Math Teachers at Play, our first carnival was published in February 2009.

            Each Playful Math Carnival offers 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.

            There’s so much playful math to enjoy!

            By tradition, we start the carnival with a math activity in honor of our 179th edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

            NOTE: Our wonderful volunteer hosts have kept the Playful Math Carnival going when so many other blog carnivals died off. If you’d like to sign up to host the carnival for a month, email Denise for information.

            Try These Prime Puzzles

            Did you know there are 179 even-numbered days this year?

            • How many even-numbered days will there be in a leap year?
            • But there are 365 days in a standard year and 366 in a leap year. Shouldn’t there be half that many even-numbered days?

            179 is a prime number, and it’s also a knockout prime. You can knock out any of the digits, and what’s left is still prime: 17, 19, or 79.

            • Can you find another knockout prime number?

            179 is a twin prime. That means that one of its odd-numbered neighbors is also prime.

            • Is the other twin 177 or 181? Can you tell without looking it up?
            • Why are twin primes limited to the odd numbers? That doesn’t seem fair!

            179 is also an emirp. That’s a special kind of prime that forms a different prime number when you write it backwards: 971 is also prime.

            • How many emirps can you find?

            “A palindrome is a word that when written in reverse results in the same word. for example, ‘racecar’ reversed is still ‘racecar’. Related to palindromes are semordnilaps. These are words that when written in reverse result in a distinct valid word. For example, ‘stressed’ written in reverse is ‘desserts’. Not all words are palindromes or semordnilaps.

              “While certainly not all numbers are palindromes, all non-palindromic numbers when written in reverse will form semordnilaps.

                “Narrowing to primes brings back the same trichotomy as with words: some numbers are emirps, some numbers are palindromic primes, but some are neither.”

                —The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences A006567

                Click here for all the mathy goodness!