Mathematical Gift Ideas

BOOKS AND POSTERS

• M. C. Escher--a poster or a book of his works raises an awareness spatial sense and symmetry
• DELL® Pencil Games--contains Quizzles (logic problems) and other pencil games, many of which are arithmetical or mathematical in nature
• Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, by Louis Sachar. A book of logic problems with a twist.
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• There are numerous books about counting and number sense for young children. Look in your favorite bookstore or order one of our favorites.

BOARD GAMES

• Yahtzee®--teaches probability and number sense
• Monopoly®--teaches counting, addition, and money sense
• Clue®--teaches deductive reasoning
• Cards--(a great stocking stuffer or party favor) opens up possibilities for many games involving logic, probability, and number sense
• Mastermind®--a game of logic using pegs for clues. It comes in a travel edition which is very portable.

TOYS

• K'nex®, Tinker Toys®, Legos®, Lincoln Logs®, Erector® sets, develop spatial sense and construction skills
• Dominoes®--develops number sense
• Rubick's® cube--a geometrical, three dimensional puzzle
• Kaleidoscopes--demonstrates changing symmetries in a colorful, magical way
• Jigsaw puzzles--are great to develop spatial sense, pattern matching, and shape matching
• Checkers and chess--are classic board games requiring logic

CRAFTS

• Origami--the art of paper folding develops spatial sense and the sense of symmetry
• Beading looms--develop symmetry, spatial sense, the need to perform simple calculations Give your child some graph paper as well to make her own designs
• Drafting tools--compass, protractor, triangles, curves, straightedges, and even a T-square for geometrical constructions

COMPUTER GAMES

There are a wide variety of computer games which develop logic and reasoning ability in addition to computer comfort. Here are only a few:
• SimCity 2000®--the player does problem solving in a simulated city, allocating resources to provide services
• Math Blaster® and Algeblaster®
• Myst®--an adventure game that is gripping way to solve a mystery
• Flight Simulator® and Space Simulator®--for the would be pilot or starship captain
• Microsoft Windows®--comes with several interesting games and tools, including Paintbrush for producing color drawings, Solitaire to play cards electronically, Minesweeper (a logic game)

MATHEMATICAL AIDS

• Calculator--a simple four function calculator will remove the tedium from calculations
• Scientific calculator--good for middle school or even intermediate grade students
• Graphing calculator--a possibility for your middle school or high school student
• Abacus--is useful in illustrating place value of numbers