By Michael Hartley
You've come to this site looking for really great math games and resources to help kids with math. So which ones are the best? It's hard to say, of course. Each person is different. At the same time, we've all got something in common. Stuff other people like, we also usually like.
So, if you want to find out the best games on this site, it makes sense to ask what other people like best. This page shows the most popular games on this site. When I say popular, I mean according to how many times people visit the game web page. There's a different page that shows which games people rate the most highly.
Some of the games and other resources on this list get popular because Google thinks it's good. Others are there because lots of people are searching for it. Some weeks a game that's normally missing from the list will pop up because of hits from some social network or social bookmarking site. In each of these cases, you can be sure that the game is a good one.
There are, of course, dozens of other great games and resources that don't make it onto this list. So be sure to spend some time as well exploring the site, starting with the menu in the sidebar.
And now for the list of the most popular games on this site over the past week!
There is a famous story about the inventor of chess, who was offered a reward by the emperor of India. He chose a reward that seemed to the emperor very cheap - just a few sacks of rice - but in reality came to more rice than India could produce in a million years. This site has worksheets to help kids work through a Modern Rice-And-Chessboard Story and see for themselves how rich the reward was. Viewed 46768 times...In the Magical Calculator Birthday Trick and the "Threes" Math Trick, one child gives a sequence of arithmetic instructions to another, then performs a few simple mental steps on the result. Almost like magic, the other's birthday (or another secret number) appears as the result of the sum! Good for fourth grade kids and up. Viewed 911 times...These Common Denominator Worksheets provide plenty of opportunity to practice putting fractions over a common denominator. Each worksheet prints out onto one page, and there are 50 worksheets total. Viewed 801 times...Why not Find Your Name In Pi? When we write pi=3.14159.., we use our normal ten different digits, which we call 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. I converted pi to base 27, and called the digits <space>, A, B, C, ..., Z. That way, the digits of pi become a long list of letters. I've got 31 million base 27 digits, I've put them on my webserver, and I've made a search box for you to use! How soon does your name appear? Viewed 478 times...Design and make your own Paper Polyhedra right in your web browser with this java applet. You can design beautiful symmetric shapes with an interactiove 3D view, then print out a plan to help you make a model of the shape out of cardboard or paper. Finally, you can share your net with your friends by email, facebook, or whatever, so they, too, can enjoy your masterpiece. Viewed 300 times...To solve these Number Mazes you need to find a path across a grid of numbers, stepping only vertically or horizontally each step. The tricky part is that you have to make sure the total of the numbers you pass is correct! You can download a set of easy 3x3 mazes, or harder 4x3 mazes, or really tough 5x3 or 4x4 mazes. Each time you visit the page you'll get new sets of mazes, uniquely generated for you. You might find a calculator handy to check the totals as you try and try and try again! Viewed 296 times...This Addition Trick seemed like magic when my uncle first showed it to me. I was 11 years old, I think. Here I explain the trick so you can amaze the 11-year-olds in your life. Viewed 253 times...Print these Magic Number Cards, learn how to use them, and with a bit of practice you'll be able to amaze your friends with your number guessing skills! This page provides the traditional version of this trick, as well as a few variations of my own invention. Full instructions and a video example are available at the web page. Viewed 249 times...The Upside-Down Calculator Word Game is recommended for kids in fifth grade and fourth grade, and maybe also third grade. Younger children may find it too challenging - although my son's grade one teacher recently gave an exercise like this one to her class! The aim is to find numbers that make words when keyed into an upside-down calculator. See the game's page for more details. Viewed 242 times...The 1 to 9 game is a game where players have to collect three numbers that add up to 15. It will help teach arithmetic to younger kids. For older kids, it will help them with strategic and logical thinking. The game's page shows how to vary the rules to make it suitable for any elementary school grade. Viewed 230 times...Don't forget to browse around the rest of the site as well....
Yours, Dr Mike