The archives of this website’s newsletter. The newsletter announces new games that appear on the site, and other interesting related events
[This is a back issue of this site’s newsletter]
Design and make your own paper polyhedra with the help of the applet on this page Today is the sixth birthday of Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, and the polyhedral nets software I mentioned last newsletter is now done!
[This is a back-issue of this site’s newsletter]
Timez Attack I just heard some exciting news from the makers of Timez Attack : they’ve added a division game! Timez Attack is a great game, my son became his grade 3 class times table champion because of it. You can read more about Timez Attack Division here. Even better, they are due to release Addition and Subtraction games by Christmas! Stay tuned on the Math Games for Kids Blog, or follow me on twitter and I’ll make sure you’re the the first to know when these come out.
Normally, this newsletter is to announce new games on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, but Timez Attack is such a great game, I couldn’t resist telling you now. Besides, you can get a $10 discount on Timez attack Division if you act before June 30. See my blog post to find out how.
Here’s a preview of some of the things coming up soon on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids.
Polyhedral Nets : I’m working on a program to help you create nets for any polyhedron you want. Well, almost – in the first version, the faces will have to be regular polygons. You’ll be able to design your own nets, print them out, and fold them up to make 3-D shapes. The program will show you what the shape should look like before you print. You’ll also be able to share them with your friends by email or via blogs, facebook, twitter, and so forth. When it’s ready, I’ll announce it in this newsletter, so stay tuned!
iPhone Mathteroids : You already know that I paid a programmer to make an iPhone version of Traffic Jam. Now, I’m paying him to bring Mathteroids to the iPhone – and iPad. On the topic of Traffic Jam for iPhone, if you’d like to write a review of it on your own blog, I have some promotional codes you can use to get “Traffic Jam by Dr Mike” for free. Hit reply, tell me the address of your blog, and ask me for a code. Do it now so you don’t forget!
[This is a back-issue of this site’s newsletter]
Polyhedron Puzzle
My son was practicing for a nationwide math test recently. One of the practice questions showed a picture of a cube with two corners cut off. The question was “What is the total number of vertices, edges and faces on this figure?”
The obvious way to solve it is to count up the number of vertices (12), the number of edges (18) and the number of faces (8) and add them all together (12 + 18 + 8 = 38). That is, after all, what the question asked for. The problem is, it’s time-consuming to do so much counting – and it’s a timed exam.
Continue reading Newsletter #49 : iTunes, Polyhedra and the Math of Life
[This is a back-issue of this site’s newsletter]
Just a quick note….
I got an email from a teacher this week, frustrated with the easter date worksheets that I have on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids. They couldn’t get the worksheet to work! And they’d already presented it to the kids in their class!
You can imagine how frustrated they were! And there was no worked example on the website!
Continue reading Newsletter #48 : Easter Date Worksheet Example
[This is a back-issue of this site’s newsletter]
Although I don’t have a new game to announce this newsletter, that’s because I’ve been busy with a number of other useful things. There’s a couple of math games I have lined up for the site, but they aren’t quite ready yet. Stay tuned! In the meantime, you might like to check if Easter really is this coming weekend, with these easter date worksheets.
Continue reading Newsletter #47 : Easter, Chocolate and The Colossal Squid
[This is a back-issue of this website’s newsletter]
The Bongo-Kazongo Track I came across an interesting paradox the other day, called the Absent Minded Driver problem. I won’t go into details here – you can read about it at this blog post. In the paradox, you imagine a lost explorer on a track like the one pictured here. He has to take the second exit, but he can never recall which exit he’s on. Therefore, he makes his decision based on a probability he decides on beforehand. The paradox comes about because there are two ways to work out the best probability. Both sound perfectly logical, but they give different answers.
[This is a back-issue of this website’s newsletter]
There’s a new game now on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids – Primary Colors. This is a logic puzzle where the goal is to change the color of every bead on the board to red, green or (dark) blue. As well as challenging kids to think logically, it will help teach about how colors are made up on the computer – as a mixture of red, gree and blue.
Continue reading Newsletter #45 Primary Colors and Valentine’s Day
[This is a back-issue of this website’s newsletter]
Last week, I announced a new game you can play online at Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids – Color Switcher. I got some nice emails with some excellent suggestions for improving the games, from a teacher who will use it in class. If you play Color Switcher now, you’ll see that the online version keeps track of how many moves you’ve taken in a game – that way, kids can compete against their friends.
Continue reading Newsletter #44 : Play Color Switcher Offline
Color Switcher If you read the last newsletter from Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, you’ll recall that it announced an online version of Peg Solitaire. You’ll recall that I had actually planned to make a different game, but realised I could hit two birds with one stone, as it were.
Continue reading Newsletter #43 : Color Switcher Puzzle Game
A long time ago, when I was just starting Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, my wife bought two puzzle games for our eldest child, then still in kindergarten. One of them was the Traffic Jam Game. I quickly made an online traffic jam game, and it’s become one of the most popular games on the website. (There’s also a printable version). The other was a game called ‘Flip-It’, but somehow, until today, I never got around to making an online ‘Flip-It’ Game.
