Math Carnival

Welcome to the 170th edition of the Playful Math Education 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!

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 170th edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

Puzzle: Prime Permutations

According to Tanya Khovanova’s Number Gossip, 170 is the smallest composite number where exactly four permutations of its digits make prime numbers.

To find permutations, think of all the different ways you can arrange the digits 1, 7, 0 into three-digit numbers. (When the zero comes first, those permutations actually make two-digit numbers, which DO also count.)

Can you figure out which permutations make prime numbers?

Hint: The permutation that makes the number “170” is not prime, but it is the product of three prime numbers. Which ones?

For Younger Children: The 170 Square

A Latin square is a grid filled with permutations: letters, numbers, or other symbols so that no row or column contains more than one of any character. You’ve probably seen the popular Latin-square puzzle called Sudoku. A Graeco-Latin square (also called an Euler square) is two independent Latin squares overlapping each other.

Can you complete this Euler square made by overlapping permutations of the digits of 170 with winter colors? Don’t repeat the same color OR the same number in any row or column.

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

If you’re into math education — or just curious about how learning math could possibly be fun — you’ll definitely want to check out the latest edition of the Playful Math Carnival.

It’s a collection of awesome blog posts curated by John Golden and published on the Math Hombre website:

• Playful Math Carnival 169

The whole point of the carnival is to show that math doesn’t have to be tedious or repetitive. Through a bunch of fun and engaging posts, we celebrate math that’s playful, creative, and totally relevant to everyday life.

Because what could be more relevant that having fun while we learn?

In this edition, you’ll find everything from math puzzles and games to humor and much more — even a spooky monster escape room!

So if you want to mix up your math teaching and make it more enjoyable for your students (and for you!), definitely check out the Playful Math Carnival. Happy reading!

Go Visit the Carnival

Wanted: Hosts for 2024

The Playful Math 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.

Check the details on the carnival’s home page, and then leave a comment here or email me directly to let me know which month fits your schedule.

Playful Math Carnival Instructions

The Playful Math Education Carnival is a monthly collection of mathy fun: tips, tidbits, games, and activities.

It’s like a free online magazine of mathematical adventures. If you like to learn new things and play around with ideas, you are sure to find something of interest.

Visit the Current Carnival

Iva Sallay’s put together a wonderful collectiom of great mathy activities and games to play with your kids.

You’ll find math projects, puzzles, stories, history, music, origami, and more — soooo much math to enjoy!

Would You Like To Host a Carnival?

The carnival is a joint effort. We need more volunteers.

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!

Find Out How To Volunteer

As always, you can browse the further-past editions of the Playful Math Carnival by scrolling backward down my blog.

And remember — Don’t miss Iva’s delicious carnival post:

Visit Carnival 168

The Playful Math Education Carnival (formerly “Math Teachers at Play”) is a monthly collection of mathy fun: tips, tidbits, games, activities, and more.

It’s like a free online magazine of mathematical adventures. If you like to learn new things and play around with ideas, you are sure to find something of interest.

Visit the Current Carnival

Normally, I post a blog about each month’s carnival as it goes live. But this year has been anything but normal!

First there was my daughter’s medical issue, which took up months of my time. Happily, that is resolved and she’s doing well, back to all her normal-life activities.

Then there was the big storm that dropped a tree on our house. (Don’t worry, we’re all fine!) Cleaning up from that has taken months of work and more than a dozen bonfires — and we’re still far from done.

But I have climbed out from under the To-Do list enough to notice my blogging negligence. So without further ado, here are all the carnivals I missed, full of great mathy activities and games to play with your kids…

Playful Math Carnival 163 at 1001 Math Problems

First up, Sian’s delightful collection of math projects, puzzles, and games posted in March. Don’t worry that these may be out-of-date, because playful math is evergreen.

Visit Carnival 163

Playful Math Carnival 164 at Leap of Dave

Dave took over to host April’s carnival, with puzzles, movies, games, and math poetry. Plus a John Conway quote: “Playing games IS mathematics.”

Visit Carnival 164

Playful Math Carnival 165 at Nature Study Australia

Jo put together an especially varied carnival, full of mathy goodness. She writes, “If you have always thought math is about right and wrong, yes and no, be prepared to be stretched and amazed at the fun ways math can be played with!”

Visit Carnival 165

Playful Math Carnival 166 at Math Mama Writes

Sue filled our summer break (or winter, for those down under) with puzzles, games, and more — even a peek at three upcoming math novels. And if you struggle with fractions, don’t miss Henri Picciotto’s Fractions on Grids.

Visit Carnival 166

Playful Math Carnival 167 at Learning Well at Home

Finally, this month’s carnival: Sonya found plenty of mathy goodness to enjoy, including the “seriously addictive” Number Hive game.

Visit Carnival 167

Would You Like To Host a Carnival?

The carnival is a joint effort. We need more volunteers.

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!

Find Out How To Volunteer

As always, you can browse the further-past editions of the Playful Math Carnival by scrolling backward down my blog.

If you’re into math education — or just curious about how learning math could possibly be fun — you’ll definitely want to check out the latest edition of the Playful Math Education Blog Carnival. It’s a collection of awesome blog posts curated by Johanna Buijs and published on the Nature Study Australia website:

• Playful Math Carnival #161

The whole point of the carnival is to show that math doesn’t have to be tedious or repetitive. Through a bunch of fun and engaging posts, we celebrate math that’s playful, creative, and totally relevant to everyday life. Because what could be more relevant that having fun while we learn?

In this edition, you’ll find everything from creative math art and music to incorporating nature and the outdoors into your lessons — and even a few racing turtles!

So if you want to mix up your math teaching and make it more enjoyable for your students (and for you!), definitely check out the Playful Math Education Blog Carnival. Happy reading!

Go Visit the Carnival

Wanted: Hosts for 2023

The Playful Math Blog 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.

Check the details on the carnival’s home page, and then leave a comment here or email me directly to let me know which month fits your schedule.

Playful Math Carnival Instructions

Here is SOOOOO MUCH GREAT MATH!

Each monthly carnival brings you a new collection of ideas for playing math from preschool to high school. It’s like a free online magazine of mathematical adventures, helpful and inspiring no matter when you read them.

Explore with your kids or on your own:

• Playful Math #158 via The Montessori Cosmos

Alexa Kapor-Mater put together an awesome carnival, with fun facts, activity ideas, puzzles, videos, problem-solving tips, and interesting stuff you should know. Wow!

• Playful Math #159 via Math Hombre

John Golden found a delightful assortment of playful tidbits from around the internet, fun songs, games, activities, puzzles, math art, and the #Mathober challenge prompts. Love it!

Help Us Keep the Carnival Going

The Playful Math Blog 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. 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.

Check the details on the carnival’s home page, and then leave a comment here on the blog or email me directly to let me know when you want to host.

Playful Math Carnival Instructions

CREDITS: Feature photo (top) by Count Chris on Unsplash.com.