More Math Games & Activities from Around the World

More Math Games & Activities from Around the World — page 3
Introduction A NOTE TO PARENTS TEACHERS AND CAREGIVERS This book is a follow up to my 1998 volume Math Games and Activities from Around the World also pub lished by Chicago Review Press You may ask Why encourage children to play games when there is so much math to be learned That is exactly why In the course of engaging in these fun activities children utilize many important skills They calculate mea sure and solve problems They hone their abilities in geometry and in the recognition of patterns Most of all they learn to think critically Children who are uninterested in or bored by tra ditional math lessons are willing to persevere to find solutions to problems posed in a challenging game format The activities are open ended kids can engage with them as far as their interests and abili ties carry them Several different versions of some games and activities are presented so that children can gain wide experience with the relevant concepts Furthermore children learn about some aspects of mathematics that are not included in the school cur riculum such as networks graph theory and frac tals These games and activities are appropriate for children aged nine and up although some will appeal