Become More Clever with Creative Mathematics
Nicolene du Preez
Did you know that mathematics form part of problem solving? Did you also know that problem solving have a direct relation to creativity? Creativity is the process to identify a problem and then to solve it. Creative thinking is not only important for the young child but also for the adult. There are a reason why most school readiness and intelligence tests the concept of missing pieces, comprehension, pattern completion, similarities, number problems and block patterns. This testing of concepts helps to determine how the learner’s cognitive development took place.
Think of how a house is built, for this article I will be referring to a mathematics house. The above concepts are part of the foundation of the mathematics house. The more time you spend on the mathematics house, the faster building it will be. Just remember that if a house is not build to be strong, problems will occur later on. As understanding of the concepts is established, teachers and therapists will be able to know how much is understood. This can be established through different methods like school readiness and intelligence tests as described before. This will then indicate how strong the foundation is and how this building process have developed.
Parents can help their children to think more mathematically through more creative thinking in their daily lives. Here are a couple of examples how this can be done:
- Play word problem games or riddles with basic mathematical language while driving to school or when preparing food, for example: Mom has two packets of carrots which she bought at the grocer; both packets have the same quantity of carrots in it. If Mom packs all the carrots on the shelf there will be 10 carrots. How many do you think will be in each packet?
- Involve your child when planning something with the family or home, Mom and Dad wants to build a new bench for the garden. The bench must be placed so that one can look out over the garden; it must be soft to sit on and must be sheltered against the rain. Where do you think will be a good area to put the bench and what other suggestions do you have to improve this concept? Why are you suggesting this? (Remember to lead and compliment your child positively, in the beginning you may feel that your child’s answers do not make sense but it is the process that your children have to go through to form their own way of thinking that is important).
- Say something like: Let’s play a game: Mom is first going to tell you what her favourite number is and why, I will tell you what I know about this number and then you can tell me what you know about my number. Hereafter we can take turns. My favourite number is number three. I like the number 3 because it reminds me of the story of the three little piggies. I know that three plus three equals six, I know that we have three dogs and I also know that granny is coming to visit after 3 sleeps. What do you know about the number three?
- Children love classification games and they love to learn through a play-play way. Collect toy animals for this activity. Then you can play with them sorting the animals with similar qualities. E.g. put all the animals together that can swim and place all the four legged animals in the bath, sort the animals you like the most into a group and these you do don’t like that much into a another group. Experiment with toys that sink and floats, divide these also in two groups.
- Look for the different shapes in the house and garden. Play games like Mom says to put your nose against a circle in the garden, e.g. a round table top. Give your child a chance to lead. Children flourish when we get involved and are enthusiastic, so if you want better results, start playing together.
Nicolene du Preez