Games give children opportunities to explore fundamental number concepts, such as the counting sequence, one-to-one correspondence, and computation strategies. Providing repeated opportunities for your children to play math games fosters mathematical ideas to emerge as they notice new patterns, relationships, and strategies.
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EN-COUNTERS for TWO
Here’s a game to play with an adult.
ADULT’S DIRECTIONS:
You will need two matching sets of colored counters – up to 12 in each set.
Each player gets a set of counters.
1. THE ADULT GOES FIRST – secretly make a pattern or design with the counters, describing what you are doing as you make it.
Your child’s job is to make the same design by asking questions. Answer the questions as helpfully as possible.
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CHILD’S DIRECTIONS:
Ask questions that you think will help you build the hidden design with your colored counters.
When you think you have a completed design, ask the adult to check.
If you’re wrong, that’s OK. Just keep going!
If you’re right, swap roles.
How many questions did you need to ask?
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Notes for adults
This game is all about using the language of color, position and order. While your child is asking you questions you will be limited by the language they already know. Once you swap so that the child is making the original design, you can introduce more sophisticated language into your questioning.
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DOMINO JOIN-UP
You will need a double-six set of dominoes for this problem (a standard set of dominoes) but without the seven doubles (double one, double two etc). That is twenty-one domino pieces in all.
CHALLENGE #1 – Can you arrange fifteen of the pieces round a track like this so that all the touching domino pieces add to 6 and the ends join up? You will have six pieces left over.
CHALLENGE #2 – using the same twenty-one pieces, can you now make all the joins add to 7? Which six pieces will you have to leave out?
CHALLENGE #3 – can you now make all the joins add to 5 using the twenty-one pieces? Which six pieces will you have to leave out now?
Print track and dominoes……
