Maths is Fun!

There has been lots of fun maths learning taking place in the classrooms.

Playing a good maths-focused game is not only just fun! It helps with cooperative skills, discussing the maths involved, practising an important skill, and engages in problem solving and reasoning.

The Grade 4s have used the popular Japanese game jankenpon (aka Rock, Paper, Scissors) to investigate probability.

The Grade 1/2s have been playing fun, interactive games, such as Double Up, 100 or Boom!, and Shut the Box to help build their addition and subtraction number facts. 

To help learn multiplication facts, the students in Grade 4 have played Array Races, Product Pairs and Add'n Multiply.

Playing games with family members is also a fun and enjoyable way to explore mathematical concepts, strategies, engage in logical thought, and problem-solve. Families can play strategy games such as, Connect 4, Junior Monopoly, Monopoly, noughts and crosses, Mastermind, Guess Who, battleships, checkers, chess, card games and dice games (e.g. Yahtzee).

Try playing this card game at home - Close Call:            

How to Play Close Call: The object of this game is to accumulate the highest score by coming closer to the goal than your opponent. Start with a complete deck of cards. Ace = 1, Joker = 0 and all tens and other face cards are removed. Shuffle the deck and deal each player 6 cards. Players then select 4 of the cards to create two 2-digit numbers. The object is to create two numbers that when added together come as close to 100 as possible, without going over. 

For example, in this hand cards 2,3,4, and 5 were selected. Can then create the numbers 53 and 42, which when added together total 95. 

How to Win Close Call: The player with the total closest to 100 wins the round and 1 point. In the event of a tie, each player receives a point.  After playing 5 rounds, the player with the most points wins. 

Variations to the Game: 

-If you’d like to play this with younger children, deal 4 cards to each and select 2 cards to get as close to ten as possible, without going over.  

-Or to practice subtraction instead, change the rules to subtract 2 numbers to get as close to zero as possible.  

-Or for a greater challenge for older children, practice with integer operations. Make black cards positive and red cards negative, and again, challenge kids to combine numbers to get as close to zero as possible. 

Don't forget Matific's gamified activites that also engage children and help them realise it is exciting and fun to do maths!