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Cuisenaire Squares
These squares have been made from Cuisenaire rods. Can you describe the pattern? What would the next square look like?
Rod Fractions
Pick two rods of different colours. Given an unlimited supply of rods of each of the two colours, how can we work out what fraction the shorter rod is of the longer one?
Age 7 to 11 Challenge Level:
Here’s a game to play with an adult!
How do you play?
You'll need an adult to play with.
You'll also need one Cuisenaire rod of each length between 1 (white) and 10 (orange), or you can just write down the numbers on a piece of paper. You could use the interactive version here.
Decide who is going to go first, and choose a distance between 11 and 55. We'll use 25 as an example. The aim of the game is to make a train of length 25 (exactly).
Each player in turn puts down a Cuisenaire rod, putting them end to end so that there is a single train. The person who puts down the last rod to make 25 wins. If one player puts down a rod that makes the train longer than 25, then the other player wins. (If you aren't using rods, then you can use each of the numbers between 1 and 10, but only once.)
Does it make a difference who goes first?
Can you work out a winning strategy?
Notes for adults
Train for Two helps to develop children’s fluency with simple addition. However, the real challenge is to find a winning strategy!
Easier version: Choose a smaller target, or use more rods.
Harder version: Choose a bigger target, or use fewer rods.
Repeat the game, aiming to find a winning strategy, then talk together about how it was found.
There is a classroom version of this game here.
Train for Two helps to develop children’s fluency with simple addition. However, the real challenge is to find a winning strategy!
Easier version: Choose a smaller target, or use more rods.
Harder version: Choose a bigger target, or use fewer rods.
Repeat the game, aiming to find a winning strategy, then talk together about how it was found.
There is a classroom version of this game here.
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.