Looking for a fun activity to help create number sense?
I love box puzzles, and I love creating them. Students play with numbers with this pressure-free activity. When they discover the patterns, a light bulb goes on, and they are excited to find more! What better way to teach math? Box Puzzles let students experiment, think about math, and problem-solve. Let’s give kids a break from the worksheets and drill!
Like a Magic Trick
My digital box puzzles are created with Magician Clip Art. The theme encourages students to feel like they are performing magic tricks. One of my lessons teaches students to add a long series of numbers using a box puzzle. Once they learn how it works, they are able to add, for example, odd numbers between 0 and 50. Or all of the numbers from 1 to 100. This is a fun trick they can use to amaze their friends. (And a few parents too.)
Box Puzzles to Teach the Commutative and Associative Properties
These wonderful puzzles are a great way to teach number properties. They learn that numbers can be added or multiplied in any order, and the answer will still be the same. They can also group numbers in different ways and still come up with the same answer. In my lesson, “Think Inside the Box”, students learn how the puzzles work by adding with zoo animals instead of numbers. And once they learn the basic box puzzles, they can move on to more challenging activities.
Area Models and Distributive Property
Area Models are another great way to show how these puzzles work. In my 3rd Box Puzzles Lesson, colorful area models are used inside a box puzzle to see how the two relate. And Distributive Property can be taught and modeled using these same puzzle squares. Try these on your students and see who comes back for more! My students love these.
What is the ideal Grade Level for Box Puzzles?
“What grade level works best with Box Puzzles?” Any student who can add, subtract, and multiply fluently will be able to tackle these puzzle challenges. There are a couple of slides that involve negative numbers, however, these can be deleted if students are elementary age. Older students enjoy these too, because they involve math in a way that is unique and unlike any math they have likely experienced before.
Please watch the video below to get a good idea how these puzzles work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn4IkxNWpH4&feature=youtu.be
BOX PUZZLES ONE: “THINK INSIDE THE BOX” https://ampeduplearning.com/box-puzzles-commutative-and-associative-properties-digital/
BOX PUZZLES 2: “ADD LIKE A GENIUS” https://ampeduplearning.com/box-puzzles-2-adding-strings-of-numbers/
BOX PUZZLES 3: “THINKING ABOUT MATH” https://ampeduplearning.com/box-puzzles-3-number-properties/
BOX PUZZLES BUNDLE: https://ampeduplearning.com/box-puzzles-bundle-of-3-exploration-with-numbers-number-properties/
Each Lesson is available separately, but the first three are also available as a bundle.
