MAGIC MATHEMATICS: BOOK 3

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
IN
MATH STORIES, POEMS AND GAMES

The math stories, math poems & nursery rhymes, colouring pages with funny numbers, entertaining math games and creative tasks help the children make friends with mathematics, and ensure the children are keen to continue their journey around this magical, logical and harmonious world. This book is aimed at 5-8 year old children and may be used in a classroom or home school environment.

MAGIC MATHEMATICS III (fragment)

Math Story 'Cooking with the Three Times Table'

Number 3 pondered for 3 hours about making the times tables fun, but he couldn't think of anything. ‘I don't have a sense of humour. It would be better if I baked a cherry tart for everyone,' he decided.

colouring picture from the book 'Magic Mathematic's

He quickly made the dough , cut it into triangular-shaped pastries and decorated them with cherries, singing as he worked:

I'm baking cherry tarts,
Singing as I go,
I'll add three tasty cherries,
And put them in a row.

Two tarts have six sweet cherries,
And three no more than nine,
Four have twelve , and five
Have fifteen – yes, that's fine!

Six tarts have eighteen cherries,
Never less or more,
Seven – twenty one,
And eight tarts – twenty four.

How many sweet, red cherries
Are on the other tarts?
Learn the three times table,
Then you'll know the answer!

Baking's lot of fun ,
It's what I love to do.
I also love times tables,
And I hope that you do too!

‘What a marvellous song !' number 3 thought. ‘It will help me to make sure I always count correctly how many berries I need for my triangular tarts.

So, I need 9 х 3 =27 cherries for 9 tarts , and 10 х 3=30 cherries – for 10. I'll put them on the baking tray in the oven, and soon everything will be ready.'

‘Oh! I've made up the three times table for cooks !' number 3 suddenly realised, as he inhaled the delicious aroma of the cherry tarts. He quickly gathered up the tarts in a tin and ran off to tell his friends about his wonderful times table.

Questions to accompany mathematics' story

• Make up a story about the times tables for cooks helping you. For example: 8 people are coming to visit me, and I need to bake them 3 tarts each. How many tarts do I need to bake altogether 8 х 3=?

Math Game : ‘Watering the flowers'

Someone pretends to be a rain cloud, and sits down on a chair. Another child is the sun, and all the others pretend to be flowers. The teacher gives the command: “day”, and everyone except the rain cloud runs round the room. The sun holds a ‘sunbeam' (a small stick), and tries to tap the children with it. When the sun catches someone, that child stops and hangs their head (dries out). When the teacher gives the command "night", the sun sits down on the chair, and the rain cloud stands up and counts how many dried out flowers there are altogether.


The rain cloud must water the dry flowers, giving them 3 raindrops each. In order to do this, the cloud must count how many raindrops he/she needs altogether. For example, for 4 flowers he/she needs 4 х 3=12 drops. If the rain cloud counts the number of raindrops needed correctly, he or she gets a glass of water, and sprinkles it over the flowers. The flowers come alive, and the game starts all over again.