5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In previous posts, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to explore the world of math and introduced one of my favorite learning tools, the math journal.

But you may be wondering, what can my students do with their journal? How do I find good math prompts?

Here are five different ways your children can explore math through writing, classified by the type of reasoning involved.

#1: Game Prompts

Ask your children to play a number or strategy game and then write about it.

Game prompts break through the idea that math is dull and boring. They help students develop a positive attitude toward math while practicing their number skills or strategic thinking.

Continue reading 5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Why Math Game Monday?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Learn a new game with Math Game Monday

There’s a new Math Game Monday this week.

Have your kids tried it yet?

This week’s game is one of my favorites for early elementary grades, a logic game that makes children think about numbers and strategy.

Or, if you’re reading this post later and missed that one, there’s another great new game this week for you to play.

Check it out:

Visit Math Game Monday

Continue reading Why Math Game Monday?

What Is a Math Journal?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In my previous post, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to think of math as a nature walk through an infinite world of wonder.

A math journal is a record of your child’s journey through this world of mathematics.

In a math journal, children explore their own concepts 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.

Journaling brings math back into the liberal arts. It makes abstract ideas accessible and stretches children’s understanding, building math fluency and creating a solid foundation for future learning.

Continue reading What Is a Math Journal?

How Will You Celebrate this Epic Twosday?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Tomorrow is Tuesday 2/22/22 (or 22/2/22, if you prefer). What a wonderfully epic Twosday!

Here’s a puzzle your family or class may enjoy…

The “All 2s” Challenge

Use only the digit 2, and try to use as few of them as you can for each calculation. You may use any math operations you know.

For example:
0 = 2 − 2
8 = 2 + 2 + 2 + 2

  • Can you find a way to make 8 using fewer than four 2s?
  • What other numbers can you make?
  • Can you calculate all the numbers from 1–20? 1–100?

Putting 2 in Perspective

You might enjoy practicing your math art skills with this 2-digit challenge from Steve Wyborney.

How many blocks make the digit 2? How did you count them?

Did You Get Your Puzzle Calendar?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Earlier this week, I sent out my last Playful Math Newsletter to email subscribers.

Most months, my newsletter includes tips and activity ideas for playing math with your kids. But from time to time, I give away a free sample of whatever I’ve been working on — an early draft of something that will eventually show up in one of my books or printable activity guides.

This month’s gift was a Pentomino Puzzle Calendar, a daily adventure in spatial reasoning.

(If you’re a subscriber, be sure to check your inbox!)

For those who haven’t signed up yet, follow this link for more information:

Join Our Playful Math Email Newsletter

And if you hit “Reply” to your welcome email and ask for a printable Pentomino Puzzle Calendar of your own, I’ll send you one right away.

Advent Math Activity Calendars

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Once again, the delightful Nrich Maths website offers a seasonal selection of activities to encourage your children’s (and your own!) mathematical creativity.

Click the images below to visit the corresponding December Math Calendar pages.

For Primary Students

Here are twenty-four activities for elementary and middle school, one for each day in December during the run-up to Christmas.

2021 Primary Advent Calendar

When you get to the Nrich website, click a number to go to that day’s math.

For Secondary Students

Here are twenty-four favorite activities for middle and high school, one for each day in December in the run-up to Christmas.

2021 Secondary Advent Calendar

When you get to the Nrich website, click a number to go to that day’s math.

More Holiday Math

I encourage you also to explore my HUGE holiday math post:

Or check out these pages for more ideas:

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:

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!

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