Parentheses Puzzles
The challenge
Take an expression, such as
2 + 7 × 5 − 2 × 2
and add parentheses to it so that a target result, say 9, is obtained.
How to create
These are easy to create and tailor to you child’s skill set. Take any equation, in our case
9 = (2 + 7) × (5 − 2 × 2)
and then remove the parentheses. It’s as simple as that!
Use the operations and numbers that your child is comfortable with. Use shorter expressions and fewer parentheses to make simpler puzzles.
Helping your child
Puzzles are meant to be challenging and to take time, so please don’t ruin the fun by telling your child how to do them. These puzzles are chosen so that you can create them easily and then have fun solving them together.
If your child gets stuck on a puzzle, you have several options. You can, of course, give very small hints, if you can think of things that won’t give away the puzzle. You can suggest looking at smaller or simpler versions of the puzzle. Encourage your child to be bold in their ideas, even if sometimes they lead to dead ends. We all learn a lot from our mistakes and dead ends! Let your child know that it is perfectly okay not to solve a puzzle on the first (or second or third) try, and that useful ideas may occur to them if they leave the puzzle alone for a day or two.
These puzzles are meant to be fun and to teach problem solving. One of the greatest mathematical pleasures is that AHA moment, after many false starts and much wrestling with a problem, when the answer is finally discovered – be sure to let your child experience that feeling of discovery as many times as you can!