By Michael Hartley
You've come to this site looking for really great math games and resources to help kids with math. So which ones are the best? It's hard to say, of course. Each person is different. At the same time, we've all got something in common. Stuff other people like, we also usually like.
So, if you want to find out the best games on this site, it makes sense to ask what other people like best. This page shows the most popular games on this site. When I say popular, I mean according to how many times people visit the game web page. There's a different page that shows which games people rate the most highly.
Some of the games and other resources on this list get popular because Google thinks it's good. Others are there because lots of people are searching for it. Some weeks a game that's normally missing from the list will pop up because of hits from some social network or social bookmarking site. In each of these cases, you can be sure that the game is a good one.
There are, of course, dozens of other great games and resources that don't make it onto this list. So be sure to spend some time as well exploring the site, starting with the menu in the sidebar.
And now for the list of the most popular games on this site over the past week!
Design and make your own Paper Polyhedra right in your web browser with this java applet. You can design beautiful symmetric shapes with an interactiove 3D view, then print out a plan to help you make a model of the shape out of cardboard or paper. Finally, you can share your net with your friends by email, facebook, or whatever, so they, too, can enjoy your masterpiece. Viewed 861 times...In the Magical Calculator Birthday Trick and the "Threes" Math Trick, one child gives a sequence of arithmetic instructions to another, then performs a few simple mental steps on the result. Almost like magic, the other's birthday (or another secret number) appears as the result of the sum! Good for fourth grade kids and up. Viewed 646 times...Why not Find Your Name In Pi? When we write pi=3.14159.., we use our normal ten different digits, which we call 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. I converted pi to base 27, and called the digits <space>, A, B, C, ..., Z. That way, the digits of pi become a long list of letters. I've got 31 million base 27 digits, I've put them on my webserver, and I've made a search box for you to use! How soon does your name appear? Viewed 378 times...With the Space Birthday Calculator you can find out how many Jupiter years old you are or when your next Venus birthday is. Enter your birthday (and your friends' birthdays), and see how close you are to turning 21 in Mars years. Birthday information is stored on your local computer (as a 'cookie') so you don't need to enter the information over and over again each time you visit. The Space Birthday page also shows upcoming birthdays for a collection of famous scientists and celebrities. Why not organize a big space birthday party? Viewed 348 times...The Grid Of Sums is a puzzle game by the French newspaper "Le Monde." (They called it La Grille De Sommes.) You start with an empty grid, then you fill the cells one by one. Each cell gets filled with the sum of its neighbors. On my Le Monde 'Grid Of Sums' puzzle page you can read the rules in more detail, find a link to Le Monde's original video, download printable puzzle grids of many different shapes and sizes, and get ideas for variations on the original puzzle - including how to make it a two-player game! Viewed 339 times...Print these Magic Number Cards, learn how to use them, and with a bit of practice you'll be able to amaze your friends with your number guessing skills! This page provides the traditional version of this trick, as well as a few variations of my own invention. Full instructions and a video example are available at the web page. Viewed 282 times...The challenge of the Eight Queens Puzzle is to place eight queens on a chessboard, so that none of the queens are attacking any of the others. On my eight queens puzzle page, there's an online version of this game you can play on your computer of phone, right in your web browser. The game starts with a 4 by 4 board, and you can work up to harder and harder boards - or jump straight to the 8 by 8 board if you dare! Have a go now! Viewed 274 times...This Addition Trick seemed like magic when my uncle first showed it to me. I was 11 years old, I think. Here I explain the trick so you can amaze the 11-year-olds in your life. Viewed 254 times...The Knight's Tour is a classic chess puzzle. You start by tapping or clicking the board to place a knight. Then you must move the knight around, visiting as many squares as possible, exactly once each. The squares on the board change color to show you where you've been, where you are, and where you can go next. There's also an Android version available; Drop by my Knight's Tour page and scroll down to find the play store links and QR code. Viewed 251 times...This is one of two math tricks on this site that let you guess someone's birthday after a sequence of mathematical operations. Viewed 240 times...Don't forget to browse around the rest of the site as well....
Yours, Dr Mike