One of the important skills that children need to master is their ability to become independent thinkers and problem solvers. The foundation of all future learning lies in the ability to break down a problem until a solution is determined. Building children’s abilities as well as their confidence, is vital to producing children who are challenged, rather than frustrated, when faced with new situations.
***************
Floyd has one approach and one approach only, to kite recovery: Throw something up to knock the kite down. hmmmm…
PROBLEM SOLVING….. Sometimes the best approach is the practical one, but creative solutions are always interesting to witness. Stand back a bit and observe your children as they grapple with how to approach problems.
“STUCK” by Oliver Jeffers is a charming book about problem solving and the need for creative solutions to our problems.
Oliver Jeffers reading his book
**********
JUGGLING RINGS
A circus clown has a set of five juggling rings in different colors. Before he starts his act, he lays them out so they overlap.
This creates 9 separate areas within the rings.
Can you place all the numbers from 2 – 10 in each of these areas, so that each complete circle adds up to and even number?
There is more than one answer, so challenge your family
**********
HOW TO MAKE A MOBIUS STRIP
The concept of a one-sided object inspired artists like Dutch graphic designer M.C. Escher, whose woodcut “Möbius Strip II” shows red ants crawling one after another along a Möbius strip.
1. Cut a strip of paper.
2. Twist it once and tape the ends together.
3. No, that’s it, you’re done!
Video instruction:
Now for the fun part!
Now that you’ve made your Mobius strip, there are loads more things you can do with it…
1. Try coloring along the edge. What happens?
2. Draw colored lines along the middle. What happens to them?
3. You may want to make another Mobius strip for this.
Draw a line down the middle of your Mobius strip. Cut along the line. What happens?
4. Try drawing a line a third of the way into your Mobius strip. Cut along that. What happens?