What is Moebius Noodles

I really hated math when I was in school. Ever since that first word problem about 3 pipes filling a stupid swimming pool, it was boring and hard to understand. I tried to avoid it whenever I could.

Avoiding math was a miserable experience. And not the one I wanted for M. So I was excited earlier this year to take a course offered by my friend Maria Droujkova. The course was all about how to introduce math concepts to young children in a non-scary and highly engaging way. It is also about giving math-shy parents a second chance at succeeding at math.

In case you want to check out some of the games we played in the Moebius Noodles course:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

And here's the link to more Moebius Noodles math games.

And now Maria is working on publishing a book and building a community around this novel idea of showing the non-boring, intuitive and fun side of math to both kids and parents. Does this sound like a great idea? If yes, then please support it by dropping a tip into Moebius Noodles tipping bucket and spreading the word. But please hurry since there are only 6 days left to raise the money.

Math Games Week 4 - Iconic Numbers

I must admit, this has been the hardest Math Games week so far and we didn't get much done. One reason is that I'm not exactly sure how to explain the concept of iconic numbers to M. I tried explaining to Chris, but he didn't understand it which tells me I'm not fully understanding it myself (otherwise I'd find a way to convey the idea).

Another reason is that this week's been crazy busy with projects and also with doing lots of DIY junk toy making. Which is exciting, of course.

The third reason is that we seem to be stuck on the symmetry games, specifically the Mirror Book game. It's really not a bad situation at all and I see that M is developing the game. I simply left the mirror book standing open on a low shelf and noticed that almost every day M brings a small toy and puts it into the book, then adjusts the angle between the mirrors.

Today was different though. He actually created a couple of things just for the mirror book - very exciting! First, he built a simple spaceship shape out of some foam mosaic blocks. I then suggested putting it into a mirror book. It was so awesome to hear him gasp in delight when he saw the result - a beautiful snowflake. We then tried it with a couple more spaceships that Chris built.

I then left the two of them to their own devices and went to finish cooking dinner (chicken braised with artichoke hearts and fennel). When I went back into the room, M proudly showed me a mound of foam shapes in between the "leaves" of the mirror book and explained that it was a volcano.

As for the iconic numbers. I occasionally remembered about them on our many walks this week and asked M to look for them. But he didn't show much interest. Fractals were a notable exception. He actually came up with a silly "living on the roof" game that led us to drawing this fractal roof (the image quality is really poor, sorry about that). And then I showed him a few fractal images online.

I'm not giving up on the iconic numbers just yet. I think I'm just going to continue bring them up as we come across them and hope that at some point things will magically click.

Math Games Week 3 - Taking a Break

This week there are no new games posted, so we've been taking it easy and replaying a few games from the previous weeks. We played another chimera grid game, this one is 100% Star Wars related. M loved it!

I splurged on a huge Star Wars sticker book - so worth it. The stickers are

reusable so they'll last us a while. Plus a friend suggested an idea of turning a few of the stickers into magnets for even more fun. Hooray!

In the mean time, we created this comic story grid and filled it with stickers and words. I still had to draw a couple of things since strangely the sticker book did not have a single sticker of Princess Leia in her golden bikini. Nor did it have pictures of Jabba the Hut. Weird...

Oh, and we also made this Darth Vader 'cause I didn't care to spend any more money on Star Wars stuff (telling ya, M's entire space program, including the lunar module, must've cost less than a 2-inch R2D2 action figure). So I put my foot down and said "no" to all the requests for a Darth Vader toy. Instead, I said that we would just make one. So here he is - a toilet paper roll, a paper cup, left-over felt and some stickers.

These last couple of pix are from a couple of weeks back, I think. I had some tomato cages laying around waiting for me to use them. M got to them first and decided that they were just perfect as weaving looms. So he spent quite some time in the yard weaving twigs, branches, flowers and ribbons through them, then pulling it all down and starting again until he got tired of the game.

Math Games Week 1 - Symmetry

This week we've been doing a lot more math than usual. Or rather we've been playing and talking a lot more math than usual. Specifically, it was all about symmetry.

We went out on math scavenger hunts and checked objects for symmetry with a special symmetry checker tool (usually a pine needle or a small stick).

We mirrored each one's movements sort of like live mirrors of each other.

Tried making some symmetry art with markers...

... and with paint.

Folded and cut paper and created beautiful math stories...

... about a lonely small pine tree in the deep woods and a ray of sunshine

... about a small fish being chased into seaweeds by a big stinging jellyfish

... about a horde of giraffes snacking on palm fronds in the heat of African day

... and about a small black kitten in a dark room

Finding symmetry seems to be easy for M. He quickly identifies one or more lines of symmetry in objects. He also built a very small collection of things that are symmetrical - a globe, a small clay pot, a magnolia leaf.

He seems to be interested most in the story-telling aspect of it though. If there's a story that can be spun out of a game, he'll play it (or watch and listen) for a long time. If not, his attention wanders off quickly.

Next week - grids galore!

Squishy Circuits - Playing with Electricity, Sort of

I first saw this idea on Ted.com in this fabulous talk. The experiment sounded so fun, that I looked up AnnMarie Thomas's Squishy Circuits site, copied her recipes for the resistive and conductive playdoughs, picked up some "ingredients" at a local RadioShack and came up with an idea.

Actually, M came up with an idea. For some days he's been pretend-playing the episode of Megamind where Megamind lures Metro Man into a trap. Naturally, next thing he wanted to build was a trap for Metro Man. Perfect opportunity, isn't it?!

Being very ambitious, I wanted to build an activity that would combine pretend-play with math, science, and fine motor skills. Yeah, and have some sort of art element to it too.

And so the idea of a labyrinth was born. We started off by using a manila file folder that was laying around and converting it into the base of our labyrinth. I wanted M to help me draw it, but he wouldn't budge. So I drew it myself.

We then used regular playdough to build the low walls. M participated in this activity - pinched off little pieces of dough, rolled them into long noodles (he didn't like that part) and carefully laid them onto the drawn lines. This last part was particularly hard 'cause he had to make sure there were no gaps or cracks or the Metro Man would escape.

Next we painted the path bright red, sort of like a red carpet. Red is still M's favorite color, but it also fits here - looks like a red carpet (and Metro Man, with his good looks, fab hair and a knack for publicity seems like a Hollywood type).

Then we went to the kitchen to make special "electric" playdough. M helped me measure and mix the ingredients for the conductive (pink) dough, but then started experimenting on his own recipe. He eventually created something very goopy, but of beautiful pea-soup color, some fancy paint products call it "moss green" (I can never achieve this shade of green when I try, but he did it).

I then proceeded to show how a small LED light lights up when electrical current is applied to the playdough. M played with it a bit and discovered the importance of maintaining proper polarity. Finally, we built a small enclosure with the dough and put a plastic dome on top (since it's an old observatory. Told ya before - watch the movie for details). We then stuck a couple of LED lights into the dough above the entrance and connected the wires.

The trap was set and sure thing, Metro Man was caught... and caught again... and again... and then again only this time he was an astronaut.

M even wanted to play with this dough the next day, putting LEDs in, connecting the wires, and testing what happens when you stick an LED into the same piece of dough. We also built a playdough cake with a red LED candle and in the process found out that our resistive dough wasn't resistive enough and we were much better off with a piece of plastic.

We'll try this activity again in a few months. Hopefully by then I'll devise a more interesting setup that creates more opportunities for experimenting (and cook a more resistive dough).

Math At the Arboretum

This past Tuesday we finally joined other homeschoolers for a Math Trek quest. It's a weekly math adventure for homeschoolers of all ages. The idea seems simple - we go out looking for math and when we see it, we take a picture of it.

The reality proved more difficult, but also way more fun. This week's Trek was at the NCSU Arboretum. It's just minutes from our house, but the last time we went there was well over a year ago. And M hated it back then. He simply couldn't get out of there soon enough. This time, however, everything was different. First, he loudly proclaimed that he loved it there and that the garden was just so very beautiful. Then he said that we should stay there for a long-long time. And so we did, for almost 3 hours.

But back to the math part of it. We were all given printouts with scavenger hunt-style math clues. There were lots of things to look for - spirals, Fibonacci sequence, right triangles, examples of infinite sequences, polygons, Platonic solids, boundaries, simple machines, and representations or models of the Universe, among other things. Not all Quests are this intense, but this was a Super Quest.

Of course, since M is only 4, I had to limit the quest to a few of the simpler concepts. And so we walked around the Arboretum, oohing and aahing over all the beautiful plants and exploring all the little pathways and nooks and crannies of the gardens. And while we were at it, we kept our eyes open and the camera ready for great math discoveries.

One of the first things we found was an example of a simple machine, a lever in our case. There were many more examples later on 'cause that particular day a group of volunteers was busy with landscaping chores, shovelling mulch and carting it off in wheelbarrows.

This was M's independent discovery. He noticed this one rock that was red (the rest were whitish-grey) and said that it was obviously a Martian rock.

Later on we came across a beautiful spiral path...

... and a long and mysterious-looking infinite sequence with a limit (a tree tunnel). So we ran along its entire length.

We stopped at a small pond with koi fish and frogs and watched them. M wanted to catch fish, but I had to explain that these are not for catching. So he just sat there looking for the largest and the smallest of them for a while.Another unexpected zomatical (zoologically-mathematical) find was this little lizard that we spotted. I mentioned how both sides of the lizard's body were symmetrical and we talked a bit about this lizard's line of symmetry.

Then we walked around some more just enjoying the gardens. And then it was time to go back to where we started - to another koi pond with a big waterfall. And so we found another one of the clues - the boundary between two states of matter (in this case - solid and liquid).

When the rest of the trekkers all got back, there was a short discussion of the trek and then we all made a right-angle triangle (since I guess none could be found in the arboretum).

How much of this all stuck with M? Ok, the Martian rock and the spirals did, but the rest - I'm not sure. But you know, it's ok. This was our first Math Trek outing and we both loved it. The main idea was to discover all the beautiful things around us and to not be afraid of connecting them with mathematical concepts. Who knew math could be this relaxing!

Hex Bug Nano - So Kewl!

Ok, so M chose a hex bug at the Liberty Science Center gift shop. Which was fine by me since a) it wasn't about space, b) it was small, c) it was much less expensive than most other stuff in the shop.

Next day we played with the hex bug (by the way, M chose the Nano, a bug that looks like and acts like a roach). First, we built a small enclosure for it with the blocks. Then we gradually expanded it and made it into a maze with several rooms. Along the way we figured that we had to reinforce the corners, otherwise the Nano was going to bang its head against them until a small crack would appear. Then just like a real roach, it'd squeese through and run away.

After building several versions of block mazes, we came up with a better idea. We cut a few "doors" in an empty cardboard box, turned it upside down trapping Hex underneath and tried to guess which door it'd run out of. Sometimes it'd run out of one door only to immediate run into a door next to it. That was a lot of fun.

Then I wrote numbers above each door. I kept it simple - 1,2,3. We counted out 10 beads for the Nano to eat. Depending on which door it'd run out of, we'd give him that exact number of beads. M especially loved this game.

Then I tried surrounding some of the exits with enclosures of different geometry - a rectangle, a triangle and a semi-circle, to see which ones the Nano would negotiate faster (find its way back to the door it came out of). This wasn't particularly exciting though since the Nano kept getting stuck in the corners where enclosures were taped to the walls.

I knew that we could buy a whole habitat for the Hex. It also doubles as a battle arena. But it looked very boring. Plus I didn't care to spend any more money and buy any more plastic stuff that we'd have to bring back with us. So instead we decided to create our own Nano habitat. M and I sat down, decided on various obstacles and general layout.

Then we raided our junk pile and recycling box to find tubes, wires, cardboard boxes, and plastic cups for a labyrinth. The end result was a bit unexpected. By the time we finished gluing down the last piece of the habitat, our Nano got lost. We couldn't find it anywhere and so ended up going to the store to buy a new one.

Building the Star City

I've noticed that since M spends most of his waking time downstairs, he almost never plays with the blocks nowadays. Not good! So I freed up some shelf space in the family room and moved the smaller unit blocks there. It seemed to work since he started using the blocks for different games.

And then he built a city for his astronauts and hangars for all the shuttle and the Hubble telescope and a launch pad for the rocket.

He even "planted" a few trees in his city saying that those were apple trees so that the astronauts would pick apples. And he built a planetarium for the astronauts too (can't see it on the pictures though).

Do you see that red structure made of two flat blocks and one cylindrical one? That's the International Space Station. But we ran out blocks before he could build a house for it too.

eye-cose-a-HEE-dron

A quick and simple math craft that I saw in the last Family Fun issue and that M and I did a few days ago. I couldn't think of what else to do that day after a successful crayon-melting experiment (trying to see what would happen when a spaceship (crayon) flies too close to the Sun (our oven)).

Fortunately, I had 20 small paper plates that were taking up valuable shelf space in my kitchen for the last couple of years. M got to use the stapler, so he loved it. He also made an observation ('cause you know, astronauts observe and experiment) that the resulting polyhedron looked somewhat like a ball. Except it had lots of surfaces and edges (new words!) and wouldn't bounce.

BlockFest Comes to Raleigh

Have you ever heard of BlockFest? Neither had I until recently. It's this travelling program that teaches parents how playing with building blocks helps children develop math skills. So it's kind of a workshop where kids get to play with different kinds of blocks while parents learn how to "facilitate" and teach basic math concepts.

Well, not to sound like a know-it-all or anything like that, but I kind of already knew a thing or two about the benefits of playing with blocks and how develops math, logic, etc. Some of it is fairly self-evident and the rest I got from all those smart books I skim through.

But it was still a lot of fun to go to the BlockFest. It was like a mega playdate, really. At least the first 2 times we got to go. The third time things got off to the rocky start, but once a large group of very roudy preschoolers left, it all got back to normal.

So there were 5 kinds of blocks - large cardboard blocks, unit blocks, pattern blocks, Keva planks, and large and small foam blocks. We have large cardboard blocks at home and M knows and loves unit blocks and foam blocks. He gets to play with them at the Marbles Kids Museum. But the pattern blocks and Keva planks were very new.

While he wasn't too impressed with Kevas, M got totally into pattern blocks. Surprise-surprise, he even chose the most challenging patterns to copy, the ones with hidden blocks, and was able to complete them mostly on his own. So now I'm on a look-out for pattern blocks. Oh, and for unit blocks.

Anyway, as you can see, for 2 out of 3 days he's been going to the BlockFest dressed in his astronaut costume. He wanted to make sure that "everyone knows that I am a little boy astronaut". And to make sure that the message really sunk in, M built several rockets out of various blocks. Yeah, by the way, the rockets he designed and built all by himself without my help!