[DMMGFK #69] Two Time Games (and Monday Morning Math)

[This is a back-issue of one of this site’s newsletters]

I got an email last week, asking for time games.

I thought for a while, and came up with two time games, which I put in a reply email. Soon, I’ll upload them to the site, but in the meantime, I’ll share them here. Both games are great for groups of kids, so they’d be perfect for a classroom situation.

The first game is for younger kids, and goes like this:

* Put the kids into two teams
* Get the teams to line up, so you have two lines of kids.
* Call out a time – eg, 3:30 or 11 o’clock or quarter past 9
* the kids have to form that time with their arms.
* Whoever does it correctly gets a point for their team
* Then, they go to the back of their team’s line, ready for the next player to try.

The second game is a variant of “What’s the time, Mr Wolf”, but for older kids:

* Choose one child to be Mr Wolf (or Miss Wolf)

* You write on a poster or whiteboard where everyone can see – “Dinner time is 3:15″
* The kids approach Mr/Miss Wolf from behind, and ask “What’s the time, Mr (Miss) Wolf!”
* You answer on behalf of the wolf “it’s 4 hours past 7 o’clock!” or “it’s 270 minutes before quarter to eight!”

When the time you call is dinnertime, it’s time for Mr/Miss Wolf to catch his or her dinner!

If you want other resources on time-related topics, my website already has some time worksheets and timetable worksheets.

And now for something completely different: a few of the articles I’ve written recently:

* Nine Cool Math Games You Can Play With Your Kids
* Kitchen Math: A Baking Session Math Lesson – an opportunity to show kids that math is useful in everyday life
* Hidden Mickeys At The Beach a perception puzzle – finding Hidden Mickeys in beach scenes
* How To Make A Pair Of Stilts I made some stilts for my kids. Not math related.
* The Dot Joining Game a write-up of this pen and paper game.

Remember, if you’d like to get weekly (*ahem* almost weekly) news about math, articles I’ve written on math or fascinating math new, sign up for Monday Morning Math right here. You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

That’s all for now, have a great week!

Yours,
Michael Hartley
Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids