Domino Maths for Parents – Day 7

More problems from our Hands-on with Dominoes series.

For the Early Years, we have chosen a problem that involves searching for pairs that add to a given total. The first toal we search for is 8, and as with the other totals, there is a strategy that works well: Choose a domino with, say 2 spots and look for all other dominoes that have the 6 spots needed to make a pair of dominoes with 8 spots altogether. Challenging your child to find more than one possible answer makes this a really valuable activity.

For the Middle Years, we have chosen an investigation of ways in which to make the total of spots equal to a square number (such as 1, 4, 9, and so on.). There is a strategy that works well: choose a domino with, say 2 spots and look for all other dominoes that have the 2 or 7 spots needed to make a pair of dominoes with a square numer of spots altogether. Challenging your child to find more than one possible answer makes this a really valuable activity.

Click here to download the pages for Domino Lower Pairs. You’ll find that the teacher (read parent) notes are included for you to use as well. There is no absolute need to print the pages, but you can if you want to.

Click here to download EvenDominoes Middle Paitrs. Again, there is no absolute need to print the pages for these domino challenge and accompanying notes, however they do help children to organise their thinking.

We do recommend that you join in the fun with these challenges, they could be quite entertaining for the whole family.