Math Games Lab for Kids: 24 Fun, Hands-On Activities for Learning with Shapes, Puzzles, and Games

Math Games Lab for Kids: 24 Fun, Hands-On Activities for Learning with Shapes, Puzzles, and Games

Rebecca Rapoport, J.A. Yoder
$24.99
Publication Date: January 1st, 2017
Publisher:
Quarry Books
ISBN:
9781631592522
Pages:
144
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days

Description

Math is the foundation of all sciences and key to understanding the world around us. Math Games Lab for Kids shares more than 50 hands-on activities that make learning about math fun by drawing and building shapes, solving puzzles, and playing games.

Have fun:

  • exploring geometry and topology by making prisms, antiprisms, Platonic solids, and Möbius strips.
  • building logic skills by playing and strategizing through tangrams, toothpick puzzles, and the game of Nim.
  • drawing and charting graphs to learn the language of connections.
  • discovering how to color maps like a mathematician by using the fewest colors possible.
  • creating mind bending fractals with straight lines and repeat shapes.

Everything you need to complete the activities can be found in the book or around the house. Learn to think like a mathematician—see how much you'll discover!

The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, clay, geology, energy, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.

About the Author

Rebecca Rapoport holds degrees in mathematics from Harvard University and Michigan State. From her first job out of college, as one of the pioneers of Harvard’s Internet education offerings, she has been passionate about encouraging her love for math in others. As an early contributor to both retail giant Amazon.com and Akamai Technologies, the number one firm in cloud computing, Rapoport played a key role in several elements of the Internet revolution. She then returned to her first love, education, as an innovator of new methods to introduce children and adults to the critically important world of STEAM education as COO of an enrichment center dedicated to helping kids explore the creative side of science, technology, engineering, art, and math, and is currently developing and teaching innovative math curricula in the Boston area. Rapoport is also the co-author of Math Games Lab for Kids (published by Quarry Books), a book of fun, hands-on math activities designed to introduce elementary and middle-school students to several areas of higher math; and the calendars Mathematics: Your Daily Epsilon of Math 2021,​ Mathematics: Your Daily Epsilon of Math 2020, Mathematics 2019: Your Daily Epsilon of Math, and The Mathematics Calendar 2018, all published by Rock Point. She has an Erdös number of 2.

J.A. Yoder is an educator and engineer who has a lifetime love of puzzles and patterns. Her educational philosophy is that hands-on creative work is both the most fun and the most effective way to learn. She developed and taught the original hands-on-math lessons for an after-school program that eventually inspired this book. Some of her happiest memories come from "eureka moments"—either from learning something that makes a dozen other things suddenly make sense, or the sense of accomplishment that comes from solving a clever puzzle. The only thing better is sharing this joy with others.

Praise for Math Games Lab for Kids: 24 Fun, Hands-On Activities for Learning with Shapes, Puzzles, and Games

"A wonderful collection of attractive math topics that will entertain and inform kids (and their parents). A great way to share a stimulating learning activity." - Ronald L. Graham, Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, former Mathematical Association of America president, former American Mathematical Society president, former Bell Labs Chief Scientist

"This compilation of fresh, hands-on STEM activities explores a variety of mathematical concepts, from basic geometric shapes to parabolas, fractals, and puzzles...Recommended for libraries and educators seeking a tactile approach to elementary mathematics." – Doneanne Soult, Westampton Middle School, NJ, for School Library Journal

"Required materials are all readily available: in the opening pages, children can use gumdrops and toothpicks like Tinkertoys to build cubes, pyramids, and other three-dimensional structures; many projects need nothing more than pencil and paper. Removable paper templates are provided for some of the activities. Rapaport and Yoder make the projects accessible to readers of varying skill levels, whether they are learning about basic shapes or developing a more advanced understanding of mathematics." - Publishers Weekly

“Five thematic chapters define broad types of applications, such as curves and fractals, graph theory, and topology. This collection of activities celebrates an inquiry-based approach to learning math, which may be an excellent complement to more traditional classroom curricula, especially for reluctant learners. As such, it’s a great resource for parents, teachers, and curious young readers alike.” - Erin Anderson, Booklist Online

'With more than 50 activities inside, there's so much to do, whether it's making prisms and pyramids or building your own toothpick puzzles.'—How It Works

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