Sim Triangle
How to play
The two players have different colored markers. Place six (use more for a harder game) dots evenly around a circle. Players take turns drawing lines between the dots using their color. The loser is the first player forced to create a triangle all of whose sides have the player’s color and whose corners are on the circle.
Example game
Here is a game with ‘red’ moving first. This is a sequence of board positions after each of red’s moves. In the last position, no matter where ‘green’ moves next they will form a triangle and lose.
Helping your child
First and foremost, playing math games should be fun, like any other game your family plays together!
Please let your child make poor plays (mistakes) without correction, and resist the urge to tell them the best ways to play. Bit by bit, your child will get better at the game, and they will learn so much more if you let them figure things out. There is no hurry.
If you see your child make a mistake, ask them to describe why they decided to do what they did. If your child is stuck and doesn’t know which play to make, ask them to describe the pros and cons of their choices, or ask them about how they solved a similar situation in the past. If your child doesn’t remember how to do a calculation, discuss with them the methods they know for figuring it out. These conversations are important for helping your child to develop mathematically.
Through math game play and math conversations, you are helping your child learn to enjoy math and develop important problem solving skills!