I sing the praises of the Mathigon website quite a bit on this blog, but I know that many of you don’t have the time to dig deep into all that the site has to offer. Here is a really easy way to get started using its Polypad tool, “A Puzzle A Day.” If you happen to have any digital devices with internet access, this would be a good station for your classroom or a fun challenge for early finishers, and the great thing is that you don’t have to do a thing to change the puzzle each day. Players need to place all of the pentomino pieces on the board so the correct date is left visible. It’s good for spatial reasoning (which, as you know, I strongly support) and, of course, students will need to know the date to do it correctly! Here is a link to the instructions, an example, and another puzzle where you can use spinners to randomly generate the date.
You can find more Mathigon Puzzles and Games here, including a digital version of Genius Square, which was one of my Gifts for the Gifted recommendations last year.
I’ll be adding this to my Brainteasers and Puzzles collection. And don’t forget that you can follow all of my collections here.
Thank you for sharing. It is a perfect way to greet students who come to the resource room before we get started on our lessons and work. An invitation to learning that is welcoming, inclusive and fun for all learners.
Thanks! I’m glad this will be useful for you!
I think this is a great way to get the students minds in my class going. It is like a jump start to their day to get their minds working. This is amazing work.
Awesome! I think it’s great, too!