Math puzzles and maths tabletop games are a really interesting way to make math interesting and fun. Math puzzles are one of the most effective and oldest ways to engage students. Students are challenged by brain teasers, logic puzzles, and math riddles, which inspire problem-solving and critical thought. They can be used in classroom gamification as well as to motivate students to take on issues they previously thought were too difficult.
Why Math Puzzles and Games?
Practice
Students can practice their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills by searching word search-style math puzzles for hidden math equations. It encourages a sound understanding of basic math facts and can be tailored to any ability you want students to practice.
Promotes Logical Thinking
Some puzzles and games offer lessons because it promotes critical thought and problem-solving. These classic puzzles are a perfect choice for your students and are very common and famous. Every day, these logical puzzles can be found in newspapers all over the world, and there are hundreds of online tools that create puzzles based on difficulty. An example is Sudoku. Math puzzles “improve logical reasoning, combinatorial skills, strengthen the capacity of abstract thinking and working with spatial images, instill analytical thinking, and develop mathematical memory,” according to a study by the Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education.
Illustrates Children’s Reasoning
It is said that math puzzles and games can be useful tools in the growth of a child’s critical thinking skills, even though they don’t always deal specifically with math skills. The use of these games as part of a classroom discussion or as a math journal prompts students to illustrate their reasoning. All of these skills enable young students to lay a base of skills that they will be able to rely on for the rest of their lives, regardless of which post-secondary path they choose.
Help build Math Proficiency
Math games can help students gain a basic understanding of important math concepts and help them remember them longer, according to another report. Many of the math puzzles mentioned above allow students to learn basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills. At the same time, advanced or modified problems can be used to incorporate pre-algebraic concepts and advanced logic skills. It is said that students gradually progressed from using the “counting” part of their brains to using the “remembering” part of their brains to complete math problems, implying that math puzzles and repetitive problems will help develop the basic skill of math fluency.
Math Puzzles are Great for Assessment
There’s a fair chance that the program you’re using stresses problem-solving, criticism, and abstract thought while using these math puzzles and games. This is particularly true in the case of Common Core math and other related curricula. Math puzzles encourage you to interact directly with core curriculum principles rather than only teaching facts and formulas. You may also use them as a starting point for assessing how well students’ logical thinking and abstract reasoning skills are progressing. Math puzzles help students build foundational skills in a variety of areas and can have an impact on how they view math both technically and abstractly. You may also incorporate them into active learning and differentiated teaching methods.
Conclusion
It is better to see if the puzzles are appropriate for your class. Students can get disengaged from the lesson if the problems are too easy. However, if the problems are too difficult to solve, they are likely to become overwhelmed and give up early. Although math puzzles and games are a fun way to get your students to practice critical thinking, they should be intelligently designed. Cuemath is an online learning platform that makes math interesting with games and math puzzles. Math puzzles and math games online by Cuemath are designed in such a way that it engages students and helps in crystal clear understanding of various topics.