Welcome to Stockton Borough School’s Family Math Night
We hope you enjoy the plethora of fun math activities with your child!
Mill games are a fun way to develop strategic skills and spatial awareness. The most common mill game is tic-tac-toe. It is played on a nine square grid with two players who take turns putting an X or an O in each of the nine spots. The first player who gets “three in a row” vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins. If no one is able to get three in a row or a “mill” then the game is a draw, or a “cat eye.”
If you get a lot of “cat eyes” when you play tic-tac-toe, then you are ready for this level. Three Men’s Morris is played just like tic-tac-toe, but with three movable pieces. If you or your partner do not get a mill after taking turns putting down your pieces, then continue by moving a piece into any adjacent square. Try to make a mill, or three in a row before your partner. (TAKE HOME PACKET)
Players can either be the one fox or the 17 geese that are laid out on a grid (see sheet). The fox tries to “eat” all the geese by jumping over them into an empty space. The geese try to corner the fox so he cannot move. (TAKE HOME PACKET)
Parents may recognize this game as “War” but we use the gentler name above. It is a great way for students to practice comparing different numbers. Take a deck of cards, with jokers removed. For younger children, use cards with numbers 2-10 only, or less if needed. If Aces are used, they are the highest card. Divide the deck into equal piles for each player. With the cards face down, take turns with your partner(s), turning up one card at a time. Who ever has the highest card takes the other card(s). If there is a tie, then take three cards out two down and one up. The high card takes it. Some people play several rounds and then players compare to see who has the most cards. Others play until they have no more cards left, but this may take awhile! (TAKE HOME PACKET)
STATION #3 Make Ten
Use different colors of Unifix cubes to make a ten. For example, you could use one yellow and nine blue to make a length of ten. Or you could use one blue and nine yellow. Try to see how many ways you can make ten!
STATION
#4
Animal Crossing
Try to get your four animals across the board before your partner does. Remember, you can only move one animal at a time. You can only move in one direction on each turn. If you run into a wall, you have to stop. You can change directions on your next turn. When using 6-sided dice, have the numbers 4, 5, & 6 = 1, 2, & 3 moves. (TAKE HOME PACKET)
STATION
#5
Guess My Number
Each player has 10 tokens. Players take turns picking a number between 1 and 25. (Number may be a smaller or larger than 25, if you like.) The partner tries to guess the number. Each guess cost 1 token. If the guess is incorrect, the first player will say “higher” or “lower” if the target number is higher than or less than the guess. Players take turns guessing. Try to win all the tokens.
Play “Bagels” below, but use a two-digit number. Use the words “cold,” “warm,” and “hot” to indicate if the guessed number doesn’t have any of the digits of the target number, has one but is in the wrong place, or if it is correct and is in the correct place. A “hot hot” wins!
Follow the Directions on the Family Math Worksheet to guess your partners three-digit number. (TAKE HOME PACKET)
STATION
#6
Balloon Ride
Win a balloon ride by being the last player to cut the rope. Follow the Directions on the Family Math Worksheet on this version of an ancient Chinese Nim game. (TAKE HOME PACKET)
STATION
#7
Candy Graphing
Do packages of M&Ms have the same amount of each color of candy pieces? Graph one package of candy by coloring a square for each color of M&M in your package. Tape up your graph when you are done and then compare with the other graphs. How is your graph the same? How is it different?
STATION
#9
Mystery Bag
There are five blocks in the bag. The blocks are either one color or another color. Reach your hand into the bag and, without looking into the bag, pull out one block and look at it. Then put it back into the bag. No Peeking! Do this five times. How many of each color block do you think there are? Now take a look into the bag and see if you were right! Try the different bags.
There are five blocks in the bag. There are three different colors of blocks. Reach your hand into the bag and, without looking into the bag, pull out one block and look at it. Then put it back into the bag. No Peeking! Do this five times. How many of each color block do you think there are? Now take a look into the bag and see if you were right! Try the different bags.
STATION
#10 Dice Graphing
How many times do you think it will take for you to roll the dice until you get a double- when both dice have the same number? Write your name on the graph paper. Color in number of boxes for how many turns it took you to reach a double.
Roll two dice and add them together. Put an “X” in the box next to the sum of the dice. Continue doing this 25 times. When you are done, look at your graph. Is the graph fairly even, with all the numbers getting about the same amount of “Xs?” Why do you think this is?
STATION
#11
Computer Games
Family Math Web Page- Click on this link to play different games- found on the www.stocktonschool.us web page.
STATION
#12 Math Literature
Take a break and read a children’s math book aloud to your child(ren.) See handouts for some books you may wish to check out from the Bookmobile.