At the end of every weekend math class, raise a simple mental arithmetic problem or a number puzzle for the children to work on over the holiday.
A. Mental math problem
Think of some amount. Your best friend adds an equal amount to what you have thought. I give you Rs 500. You spend half of your total amount on shopping. You return your friend's amount. How much money remains with you?
Show answer
Rs 250 — whatever amount you thought of!
B. Bread distribution puzzle
There are 20 people (men, women and children) in a family and they have 20 breads. If each man eats 3 breads, each woman eats 2 breads and each child eats half a bread, find the number of men, women and children.
Show answer
1 man, 5 women and 14 children (3 + 10 + 7 = 20 breads).
Classroom games
Shape Snake & Ladder
Play like the usual Snake & Ladder game, but put a triangle, square or pentagon in the place of numbers. Players skip 3, 4 or 5 steps according to the shape they land on.
Play & Win — Ring Game
Give each colour a place value: Green = 1, Yellow = 10, Red = 100, Black = 1,000. Play the ring game and students make numbers from the rings they win.
Number Game — "Bhana Sathi Kati"
Students stand in a circle. If a student says 8, they clap 1, 2, 3 … 8; if the 8th student succeeds in skipping, his friend is out, otherwise he goes out.
Variation: the teacher says 4 and students quickly make groups of 4 — whoever is not in a group is out.
Action Numbers
In a circle: 7 means sit down, 3 means stop and 10 means run. Call out numbers and watch for the quickest responders.
Multiplication — Rumal Lukai
Play the traditional handkerchief game "Rumal Lukai". The student who is caught has to say one of the multiplication tables from 2 to 12.
Sit or Stand
In a circle: a number below 10 means sit down, a number above 10 means stand up.
One-Minute Number Game
You need six bowls, beads and a dice. 1 = no count, 2 = double count, 3 = no count, 4 = half count, 5 = no count, 6 = same count. Students compete individually for one minute.
Addition & Subtraction Wheel
Write 1, 2, 3 … 19, 20 in a circle on the floor. For addition, students jump forward (6 + 3 = 9). For subtraction, they jump backward (7 − 5 = 2).
Work Together — a Number Story
9 slaps 8, 8 slaps 7 … 2 slaps 1 — but 1 hugs 0, and together they become 10! A lovely way to show that working together makes us stronger.