Happy Easter and Happy Spring break! Today the clocks went forward here in England which means an extra hour of daylight. If you follow my blog you’ll know that I love the sunny seasons! For me this is the real time of renewal and reflection.

In today’s blog, I’ll be sharing some timely resources and announcing a very special event!

LogiqBoard activities for home and school

I’ve chosen to share 7 fabulous Logiqboard tasks and puzzles which fit in perfectly with today.

No. 1 :The Chess Clock

The numbers have fallen off the clock! Can you use chess pieces to create the numbers 1 to 12?

Can you arrange the chess pieces so they behave like Roman numerals?

In this task children have to make a chess clock where the pieces are used like Roman numerals.

Make large clocks on paper with real chess pieces or explore numbers on LogiqBoard. First, we explore the numerical values of the chess pieces. I show images of how they attack on the board and display point values. The King however has no point value, I show this as K= no point value instead of K=0.

Queen Q=9

Rook R=5

Bishop B=3

Knight N=3

Pawn P=1

King K= no numerical value

Children explore making numbers using the chess pieces then we explore Roman numerals on a clock. We talk about how Roman numerals work revisiting previous math learning. We then make some examples together. For example, to make the number five using ‘Roman numeral chess pieces’ we could have 5=Rook or 5=Bishop + Pawn + Pawn or 5=Knight + Pawn + Pawn.

This task develops algebraic skills. Each picture of a chess piece represents a value. I love exploring algebra through the chess pieces!

Once they have made a clock I ask ‘How many different solutions can you find?’

No. 2: Pattern spotting

Can you describe the pattern for each section and predict what comes next?

This a lovely starter to a lesson or mini talk task at home. Ask your child to spot the pattern and predict what comes next. Start from the top. It’s important for primary school children to verbalise what they see. In pattern 8 at the top I want to hear them repeating the colours out loud, hearing the rhythm to the pattern. You might ask prompt questions like ‘what’s happening each time?’, ‘what might come next?’ or simply ‘tell me what you see’.

There are repeating patterns , there is a symmetrical pattern, even numbers and patterns where we increase each time. A great follow-up task is to ask children to create their own patterns. You could ask for different type of patterns or let them have creative freedom. LogiqBoard is a blank canvas for creativity and maths lessons should include time to play and explore.

No. 3: Symmetry

Can you complete the picture so it is symmetrical?

Here the children have to reflect the shapes onto the right side. I’ve added some extra detail with the LogiqBoard tools, for example, I added squares over the petals, I drew lines making X shapes in the centre of the flower and added the grass filler. Children here have to pay attention to detail, count squares, notice their own errors as they look for what is the same, what is different? You can add challenge by creating pictures where there are two lines of symmetry (vertical and horizontal) and only one quarter of the picture is complete. This is a great task to create intricate flowers and explore geometry.

No. 4: Tens Frames

Can you write a number sentence for each tens frame?

Tens frames are a great maths resource. If you haven’t used one before they’re small plastic/wooden boards with 10 indented spaces. In schools they’re often used with the popular red and yellow double-sided counters but you can use any objects with them.

In this task I ask younger children to create number sentences that total 10. For example, on the left we see 10 eggs. Half are cream eggs and half are chocolate, representing the number sentence: 5+5 =10.

I ask children to record their number sentences. Do they count every single egg or subitise (instantly recognise the number of eggs)?

On the bottom frame we have the top row (5 eggs) plus one more making 6, so 6+4=10. With practise and time to share strategies, children can learn to ‘see’ the groups instantly and memorise pairs that make 10. This will help them with other facts too.

For older students I may ask a more open ended question. How many different number sentences can you create? Here they are changing the value of one egg. Maybe one egg equals 0.1 or 10% or 1000. Knowing pairs that make 10 is the foundation for deriving new facts.

500+500=1000

0.5 + 0.5 = 1

5/10 +5/10= a whole

No. 5: Play Draughts or Checkers

Ofcourse we musn’t forget that LogiqBoard is also an 8×8 board for strategic games!

Many children know how to play draughts or checkers but if not, I suggest you check out ‘Fox and hounds’ from our extensive bank of strategy games. Maybe you can turn the game into ‘Chick and the foxes’ for Spring time.

If you play Draughts don’t forget that when the bunny or chick reaches the other side players say ‘Queen me’ or ‘King me’ as they now have the power to go back and forth. In school we promote to the chess queens or kings by the side of the board.

No. 6: The Jumping Chicks and Bunnies Puzzle

How many moves does it take for the bunnies and chick to swap places?

This may just be my favourite share from this blog! Based on the classic The Jumping Frogs Puzzle, this isn’t a game or a two-player race but a puzzle to solve. Children can explore on their own or work together with a partner. Each bunny can move one place to the right or two if they’re jumping over another bunny or chick. Each chick jumps one place to the left or two if they’re jumping over another chick or bunny.

Bunnies and chicks do not need to move alternately. For example, you could move a chick and in the next go move another chick.

Explore this puzzle on LogiqBoard by clicking on the link below. Try to solve it, restart, back track to where you go wrong and be resilient! I love doing this with plastic frogs, children as frogs and on LogiqBoard.

https://logiqboard.com/boards/clone/KcwJWCZg8d

You can start with one bunny and one chick and increase the number of bunnies and chicks gradually. With older children you can explore the formula for how many moves it takes depending on the number of chicks and bunnies. Explore for fun at home or go deeper in the maths classroom.

The 7th share: A chess puzzle from a LogiqBoard online worksheet

Easter bunny hops like a chess knight.

She must collect all the chocolate eggs in the garden. She is not allowed to go back to a square where she took an egg from but she can return to the empty green squares in the middle (e3, e4, e5, e6). She can revisit these squares as many times as she likes.

Can you help bunny collect all the eggs?

Children don’t need to be chess players to solve these types of puzzles. A quick intro on how the piece moves and some practise on LogiqBoard is all children need. These puzzles develop visualisation, shape and space skills.

You can also keep track of your moves by drawing lines on LogiqBoard. Use the back button to reverse and try again. This is a more challenging puzzle but I would start off with a more simple one. Plan with progression and make it more challenging as children move through the lesson.

Click below to solve and find another 5 puzzles. 🙂https://logiqboard.com/worksheets/O8VXJvf9wq

Wow! So that’s it, a little Easter gift for you.

LogiqBoard is more than just a chessboard.

Eggsciting News!!!

I’ll leave you with something eggstraordinary! This week I will be presenting at a Maths conference in England with the wonderful John Foley.

Last year John invited me to present at the London Chess Conference where the theme was Chess and Stem. John is the director of Chessplus Limited and Councillor at the Education Commission for the European Union.

This week’s Conference brings together some of the biggest names in Maths Education and the theme is ‘Shape Up!’

Our presentation will focus on ‘Strategy games and the Mathematical skills and concepts we can explore through games’. I cannot wait.

John, if you’re reading this, I know I’m meant to be doing my final slides for the presentation but I lost track of time. LogiqBoard does that to you.😉

Happy Spring break everyone 🐣

Hari x