Are you ready to channel your kids' enthusiasm for St. Patrick's Day into learning math?
Math puzzles give your kids an opportunity to think critically and deeply about mathematics, develop problem-solving strategies, and work through challenging problems.
And when math problems incorporate your kids' personal interests, their engagement will skyrocket!
So, go ahead and try these challenges and puzzles with your kids this month. These free and printable St. Patrick's Day math activities are perfect for warm-up and/or cool-down activities and are great for sparking mathematical discussions in your home or classroom. The puzzles are perfect for students in grades 3 through 8.
How to Download: You can download any of the puzzles by right-clicking on the image and saving it to your computer or by dragging-and-dropping it to your desktop.
1.) Find the value of the '?'
Use your math skills to find the value of each icon.
Top Hat = 3
Pot of Gold = 9
Teddy Bear = 5
Irish Flag = 4
? = 21
Hint: Start with the Teddy Bear.
2.) Multiplication tables work like a Bingo board, where the value of each box represents the product of its corresponding row and column.
Rainbow = 0
Green Hat = 1
Leprechaun = 2
Heart = 4
Pot of Gold = 0
Shamrock = 5
Looking for more free math challenges like this one to share with your kids? click here
3.) Multiplication Area Model
Area models help kids to think visually about multiplication, which is the approach that Mathematical Mindsets author Jo Boaler recommends most for improving math understanding.
Balloons = 10
Shoe = 6
Leprechaun = 60
Shamrock = 30
Are you looking for more daily math challenges and puzzles to share with your kids?
My best-selling workbook 101 Math Challenges for Engaging Your Students is now available as a PDF download. You can get yours today by clicking here.
4.) Which One Doesn't Belong?
Remember that WODB? activities are meant to spark mathematical thinking and discussion and do not have a single correct answer.
Want to learn more about how to use WOBD? math activities with your kids? click here
Tip: Have your kids justify their thinking in writing!
Are you looking for more daily WODB? math graphics?
You can now share 101 daily WODB warm-up activities for grades 1-9 with your kids with our PDF workbook!
5.) Math Writing Prompt
Writing about math encourages creativity, exploration, and communicating one's thoughts and feelings, which leads to deep and meaningful understanding of difficult math concepts.
And Think/Notice/Wonder (TNW) writing activities are a great way to get your kids engaged in math writing every day.
Want to learn more about how to use TNW math activities with your kids? click here
How will you use these math puzzles with your kids? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below!
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By Anthony Persico
Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math and an advisor to Amazon Education's 'With Math I Can' Campaign. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.
