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| Dr.Nikki's |
| Math Party |
| solution for a boy’s birthday party that needs to be indoors. The idea came from an organization called the Society of Creative Anachronism, Inc. (a medieval and renaissance re-creation group) where Knights of the organization would go in to local schools and create “Knights of the Math Table.” Supplies: * 1 yard of 54” wide fabric for each boy for his “cape” (these can just be cut fabric or finished and dolled up as much as you want – a thrifty friend goes out and buys all the Dracula capes in the 2nd hand stores after Halloween). (If you can find or make some kewl cheap SAFE toy swords they make great party gifts.) * A Knight and Castle theme for the party. (Not hard to do…there are kits for it. If your son is into Spiderman, no sweat…Spidey is in England, special request of the Queen, secret mission, but they are all Spidey’s “helpers” … imagination counts when dealing with kids. *smile* -- that scenario works for just about any Super Hero). * A “sword”. (We always had the real deal around our place, but not everyone has a couple of ceremonial swords laying around.) There’s the cheap plastic ones at the dollar store. There’s the good old two pieces of wood tied or nailed together… Just something to use to “Knight” them with. * Several pieces of paper - get a note pad with cars and trucks; horses and knights? Castles and dragons? Cheap calculators (you can get little ones in the dollar store for a buck a piece – * And the kids can keep them as a party favor – better than a noisemaker) Listing of how to do the equations. (We normally put this up on a chalkboard or piece of poster board – one or two of the equations as they fit. The idea is to make this a group affair.) Cheat Sheets of the meanings of the numbers for the kids to reference to. Approach it like a role playing game. In our youth we don’t realize that the main weapon of any good soldier is what’s between his ears, not what’s in his hands! Focus on that theory. (Mel Gibson’s movie Braveheart has a very touching scene where young William’s relative comes to take him away. The bereaved child wants to fight with a sword. The relative tells the young William that he’ll let William wield a sword, once he has learned to use his mind.) From the Immortals of Persia to the modern fighting men and women in Iraq that still holds true! That normally gets the boys willing to snap-to and work it through. The year: 1430, the beginning of the Renaissance. Knights and chivalry and the Church has brought man out of the dark ages. The boys(or girls) are Squires finishing their final quest for Knighthood. Armed with their calculators (magic numbering devices) and pencil and paper (if you really wanna go the “boy scout” thing: birch bark and charcoal) they must complete the mathematical equations in order to know their ranking within the empire. |
| Plan a Math party of your own here. |
| Although my daughter has now made me a grandmother, I remember a party we had for her when she was just a child. It was a sleepover – seven precocious, cute, and VERY active eight year old girls. Hyper and gaggling like geese they were honestly driving me crazy! We had already made pizza, had popcorn, and the brownies were in the oven. We’d gone through the movies and had even done a round or two of “Richard Simmons’ Sweating to the Oldies.” But the girls were still wound up like proverbial tops. And it was only 8:00p.m.! I was terrified of how long the night was going to be because my husband was active duty and in the field at the time. Literally pulling my hair, I looked at the books on the shelf…an old Zolars “jumped” out at me and my solution was at hand. Here’s a great way to not only get those rambunctious charming little Tasmanian devils full of energy to sit down and start relaxing, try this. (A twist on the theory to make it palatable for the male gender will be presented below.) Supplies Several pieces of paper (a friend took the idea of my plain old white paper and got fancy shaded “happy birthday” paper for her daughter’s party). Cheap calculators (you can get little ones in the dollar store for a buck a piece – And the kids can keep them as a party favor – better than a noisemaker) Prizes (we always did something so that *everyone* somehow *won* at Something – even if it was “best help with wrapping paper” *smile*) Listing of how to do the equations. (We normally put this up on a chalkboard or piece of poster board – one or two of the equations as they fit. The idea is to make this a group affair.) Cheat Sheets of the meanings of the numbers for the kids to reference to. |
| Decorations Numbers – everywhere. It’s not that big of a stretch. We use numbers in our Birthday decorations all the time. The number of candles on the cake. Cards with numbers, garlands with numbers, etc. There’s even confetti that comes in the shape of numbers! Use your imagination…but make the numbers fun. We found it best to intersperse numbers with traditional decorations for the event. How to get started: As parents of pre-teens know, it may be a little difficult to get them “in the mood.” The way we did it was through the music. We’d put on something that had “math” in the lyrics. (Examples are: “One” by Three Dog Night; “The Ants Go Marching One By One;” etc.) Then, when the kids groaned (it’s easier to get their attention than yelling) I’d shake the bag of prizes and we’d get in line and “march” to the math work area. (Fancy name for some cardboard on the floor that’s been covered with numbers – stickers from the hardware store; some paper for computations; pencils – fancy ones make it more festive; and those cheap calculators we talked about.) Over the crossed-arms, frowns and irritations, they sit down and glare. (Hey, we are talking 8-12 year olds here.) Once they are settled make a deal. “I’ll let you guys pick the music.” Usually puts them back in a good mood and open to what you’re doing. “Okay. You guys were asking why all the numbers? Well here’s why. I’m going to show you how to have some fun with numbers and really amaze your friends and you’re gonna earn prizes while you do it!” (You normally have their complete and utter attention by now. Prizes and a way to amaze friends seem to work really well for this age group.) |
I would normally then go through each of the equations step by step with them, and show them that no matter how they add the numbers together they are still going to come out with the same base number. Normally once they have the idea the adult can easily back slooowwwllllyyyyy out of the room and run-like-heck to the kitchen for sanity and coffee! *smile* |
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The Boy Version I’m not trying to gender stereotype, but boys and girls do like different things. Here is a perfect |
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