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Gillian Hatch analyses what goes on when mathematical games are used as a pedagogic device.
In this article for teachers, Liz Woodham describes the criteria she uses to choose mathematical games for the classroom and shares some examples from NRICH.
This article supplies teachers with information that may be useful in better understanding the nature of games and their role in teaching and learning mathematics.
This article, the second in the series, looks at some different types of games and the sort of mathematical thinking they can develop.
Basic strategy games are particularly suitable as starting points for investigations. Players instinctively try to discover a winning strategy, and usually the best way to do this is to analyse. . . .
Players take it in turns to choose a dot on the grid. The winner is the first to have four dots that can be joined to form a square.
The aim of the game is to slide the green square from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner in the least number of moves.
A game for 2 people. Take turns joining two dots, until your opponent is unable to move.
This pair of linked Sudokus matches letters with numbers and hides a seasonal greeting. Can you find it?
Can you identify the mathematicians?
Given the products of diagonally opposite cells - can you complete this Sudoku?
A game for 2 players that can be played online. Players take it in turns to select a word from the 9 words given. The aim is to select all the occurrences of the same letter.
A Sudoku with clues as ratios.
This second Sudoku article discusses "Corresponding Sudokus" which are pairs of Sudokus with terms that can be matched using a substitution rule.
A Sudoku that uses transformations as supporting clues.
A Sudoku with a twist.
This article for teachers describes several games, found on the site, all of which have a related structure that can be used to develop the skills of strategic planning.
A game for 2 players. Can be played online. One player has 1 red counter, the other has 4 blue. The red counter needs to reach the other side, and the blue needs to trap the red.
Slide the pieces to move Khun Phaen past all the guards into the position on the right from which he can escape to freedom.
Solve this Sudoku puzzle whose clues are in the form of sums of the numbers which should appear in diagonal opposite cells.
Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?
A Sudoku with clues as ratios or fractions.
The computer starts with all the lights off, but then clicks 3, 4 or 5 times at random, leaving some lights on. Can you switch them off again?
A Sudoku with clues given as sums of entries.
Design your own scoring system and play Trumps with these Olympic Sport cards.
Two sudokus in one. Challenge yourself to make the necessary connections.
Can you work out how to win this game of Nim? Does it matter if you go first or second?
A game for 2 people. Take turns to move the counters 1, 2 or 3 spaces. The player to remove the last counter off the board wins.
Advent Calendar 2010 - a mathematical game for every day during the run-up to Christmas.
This sudoku requires you to have "double vision" - two Sudoku's for the price of one
Four numbers on an intersection that need to be placed in the surrounding cells. That is all you need to know to solve this sudoku.
Start with any number of counters in any number of piles. 2 players take it in turns to remove any number of counters from a single pile. The winner is the player to take the last counter.
This is a game for two players. You will need some small-square grid paper, a die and two felt-tip pens or highlighters. Players take turns to roll the die, then move that number of squares in. . . .
Here are a collection of games from around the world to try during the holidays or the last few weeks of term.
Unmultiply is a game of quick estimation. You need to find two numbers that multiply together to something close to the given target - fast! 10 levels with a high scores table.
A game for 2 or more people. Starting with 100, subratct a number from 1 to 9 from the total. You score for making an odd number, a number ending in 0 or a multiple of 6.
A game for 2 players. Given an arrangement of matchsticks, players take it is turns to remove a matchstick, along with all of the matchsticks that touch it.
This is a game for 2 players. Each player has 4 counters each, and wins by blocking their opponent's counters. A good follow-on from two stones.
An article for teachers and pupils that encourages you to look at the mathematical properties of similar games.
The game uses a 3x3 square board. 2 players take turns to play, either placing a red on an empty square, or changing a red to orange, or orange to green. The player who forms 3 of 1 colour in a line. . . .
A game for 1 or 2 people. Use the interactive version, or play with friends. Try to round up as many counters as possible.
A simple game of patience which often comes out. Can you explain why?
This article invites you to get familiar with a strategic game called "sprouts". The game is simple enough for younger children to understand, and has also provided experienced mathematicians with. . . .
There are nasty versions of this dice game but we'll start with the nice ones...
A complicated game played on a 9 x 9 checkered grid.
A game for 1 person to develop stategy and shape and space awareness. 12 counters are placed on a board. Counters are removed one at a time. The aim is to be left with only 1 counter.
A game for 2 or more people, based on the traditional card game Rummy. Players aim to make two `tricks', where each trick has to consist of a picture of a shape, a name that describes that shape, and. . . .