The Paddock Game
The setup
Each player gets a piece of graph paper.
How to play
For a player’s turn, use two playing cards from 1 to 10 to determine the dimensions of a rectangle. If a player’s paper has room, the rectangle may be placed anywhere its interior does not overlap with an existing rectangle. Once placed, its interior is lightly shaded and its area and dimensions are written on it. If there is no room, the turn is skipped.
How to win
The player with the largest total wins.
Variations
For a normal piece of graph paper, this can be a long game – reduce the time by using half the paper or limiting the number of turns.
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!