Tabletop Math Games Kickstarter: Order Your Copy Today

Friends playing math games

And so it begins: the Tabletop Math Games Collection is LIVE on Kickstarter!

Check It Out ❯

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.

To give you a feel for the Tabletop Math Games Collection books, I’ve put together a free printable sampler file, with 4 ready-to-play card games you can enjoy today.

I think you’ll love it!

Download the Sample File ❯

Kickstarter Sample Games Download

Continue reading Tabletop Math Games Kickstarter: Order Your Copy Today

Coming Soon: The Tabletop Math Games Collection, Volume Two

Family playing math games, with book by Denise Gaskins

Coming Soon! On March 11, I’ll be launching the next installment in my new book series, the Tabletop Math Games Collection.

And the Kickstarter prelaunch page is now live. That means you can sign up to get an email from Kickstarter as soon as the campaign launches:

Visit the Prelaunch Page ❯

(Yes, if you missed last year’s Kickstarter, you’ll also be able to get Volume One.)

Test Out Four Free Sample Games

Math games build mental flexibility and strategic reasoning in players of all ages. And even people who hated math in school can enjoy the friendly challenge of a game.

I’ve put together a free printable sampler file, with four ready-to-play card games you can enjoy today.

I think you’ll love it!

Download the Sample File ❯

Continue reading Coming Soon: The Tabletop Math Games Collection, Volume Two

Playful Math Education Carnival 171: Modern Math Artists

Welcome to the 171st 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 over the next week or so.

There’s so much playful math to enjoy!

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 171st edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

Try This Puzzle/Activity

171 is a triangular number, the sum of all the numbers from 1 to 18:

  • 1 + 2 + 3 + … + 17 + 18 = 171.
  • Can you think why a number like this is called “triangular”?
  • What other triangular numbers can you find?

Also, 171 is a palindrome number, with the same digits forward and backward. It’s also a palindrome of powers:

  • 171 = 52 + 112 + 52
  • 171 = 23 + 43 + 33 + 43 + 23

So in honor of our 171st Playful Math Carnival, here is a palindrome puzzle that leads to an unsolved question in math:

  • Does every number turn into a palindrome eventually?

palindrome number activity

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

Gameschooling Math

Games are fun, building a positive attitude toward math. They give students a refreshing break from textbook work and make kids willing to practice their math. Games make math practice enjoyable, something children want to do. We can happily work through many more calculations during a game than anyone would ever want to do on a homework page.

Benefits of Math Games

But more important than the fun, math games push children to think about what numbers mean and how they work. The numbers in a math game are not just meaningless abstractions, but tools that players can use to gain an advantage over their opponent.

A good math game reinforces the idea that math is about reasoning, using the things you know to figure out what you need. Math is not just about getting the right answer. It’s about what goes on in your head on the way to that answer. The answer itself is merely a side-effect. of what really matters, your thinking.

A good math game helps students develop flexibility, the ability to adapt, applying what they have learned to new situations, finding a way to work out the things they haven’t mastered yet. All these add up to a more robust type of mathematical fluency than what many people imagine possible.

Continue reading Gameschooling Math

Carnival 170: A Plethora of Playful Math

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 the picture to get a larger image you can print.

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

Why I Love Math Games

To everyone who has supported my Tabletop Math Games Collection Kickstarter project: thank you ever so much! We’ve blown past our funding target and the first two Stretch Goals. And the Kickstarter folks awarded us the “Project We Love” tag. 😻

If you haven’t backed the project yet, check out what you’re missing:

Visit the Kickstarter ❯

Why I Love Math Games

Math games build mental flexibility and strategic reasoning in players of all ages. And even people who hated math in school can enjoy the friendly challenge of a game.

I love how the challenge of a well-fought math game pushes players of all ages to think more creatively and build fluency.

Games Promote Mathematical Thinking

Math games push students to develop a creatively logical approach to solving problems. In the stress-free struggle of a game, players learn to analyze situations and draw conclusions.

Even more importantly, games help children learn to enjoy the challenge of thinking hard. Their vocabulary grows as they discuss options and strategies with their fellow players. With their attention focused on their next move, they don’t notice how much they are learning.

And games are good medicine for math anxiety. Everyone knows it takes time to master the fine points of a game, so players can get stuck or make mistakes without losing face.

What’s Special About These New Books?

Readers of my Math You Can Play series know the joy of gaming can transform a child’s attitude toward math. But many of you tell me the books get lost on your bookshelves or in your ebook reading device. You’ve begged me to make math gaming more open-and-go.

So my new Tabletop Math Games Collection is designed to make it easier than ever for busy families and over-stressed teachers to play with math.

These books are written directly for young gamers and require only common household supplies like cards, dice, and scratch paper. Children can open to any page and start playing right away.

Not to mention the swag! I’m excited about the items we’ve created to go along with the books. The “Gaming in the Enchanted Forest” coloring page by fantasy artist Tanya Hales is absolutely delightful, and the enamel pins are a fun and colorful way to share your playful math joy.

Order Your Copy Today

Whether you’re a busy parent or an overworked teacher, you’ll love the Tabletop Math Games Collection — the natural, no-stress way to build your children’s understanding and confidence.

These are NOT the typical memory-and-speed-based math games you’ve probably seen online, but true battles of wit and skill (plus a bit of luck). Even the preschool games can be fun for adults, too.

Most of the games take only seconds to learn and less than 15 minutes to play, making them perfect ice-breakers for family gatherings, classroom warmups, or for launching a group game night.

So what are you waiting for? Grab some cards, dice, or graph paper, and let’s play some math!

Visit the Kickstarter ❯

 
* * *

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.

If you liked this post, and want to show your one-time appreciation, the place to do that is PayPal: paypal.me/DeniseGaskinsMath. If you go that route, please include your email address in the notes section, so I can say thank you.

Which I am going to say right now. Thank you!

“__________” copyright © __________ by Denise Gaskins. Image at the top of the post copyright © __________ / Depositphotos.

Playful Math Education 162: The Math Games Carnival

Welcome to the 162nd 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!

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 162nd edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

Try This Puzzle/Activity

The number 162 is a palindromic product:

162 = 3 x 3 x 2 x 3 x 3
and 162 = 9 x 2 x 9

  • How would you define palindromic products?
  • What other numbers can you find that are palindromic products?
  • What do you notice about palindromic products?
  • What questions can you ask?

Make a conjecture about palindromic products. (A conjecture is a statement you think might be true.)

Make another conjecture. How many can you make? Can you think of a way to investigate whether your conjectures are true or false?

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

Launch Day! Act Now To Get the Earlybird Bonus

And so it begins: Tabletop Math Games Collection is LIVE on Kickstarter!

Check It Out

https://youtu.be/9AKUKcZKVKw&rel=0

To have a successful campaign, we need plenty of people to back the project early. The more supporters we get — especially on the first day — the more likely the Kickstarter service folks will help spread the news for us.

So I’m offering a special bonus printable activity guide for everyone who joins the campaign at any pledge level during the first 48 hours of the campaign:

Geometric Coloring Designs 5: Advanced Tessellations is one of my favorite open-ended math art activities, which works with students from elementary to high school. And adults enjoy it, too!

The rest of the Geometric Coloring Designs series will show up as bonuses in future weeks, and early backers get them all. Whether you pledge on day 1 or day 21, your credit card won’t be charged until the campaign ends, so join early to lock in your bonus perks.

Let’s show the whole world how much fun it can be to play around with math!

Go to the Kickstarter

New Project: The Tabletop Math Games Collection

Coming Soon! On January 30th, I’ll be launching a brand new book series, the Tabletop Math Games Collection.

And the Kickstarter prelaunch page is now live. That means you can sign up to get an email from Kickstarter as soon as the campaign launches:

Visit the Prelaunch Page ❯
(free Kickstarter account required)

Test Out 4 Free Sample Games

Math games build mental flexibility and strategic reasoning in players of all ages. And even people who hated math in school can enjoy the friendly challenge of a game.

I’ve put together a free printable sampler file, with four ready-to-play card games you can enjoy today.

I think you’ll love it!

Download the Sample File ❯

Help Your Kids Learn Math the Playful Way

  • Are you a parent trying to help your child learn math?
  • Or a teacher looking for ways to encourage creative thinking?
  • Or a gamer ready to try something new with your friends?

Then the Tabletop Math Games Collection is perfect for you.

These are NOT the typical memory-and-speed-based math games you’ve probably seen online, but true battles of wit and skill (plus a bit of luck). Even the preschool games can be fun for adults, too.

Most of the games take only seconds to learn and less than 15 minutes to play, making them perfect ice-breakers for family gatherings, classroom warmups, or for launching a group game night.

Don’t miss the fun!

Hit the button to visit the prelaunch page and sign up for notifications:

Get Notified ❯