KenKen Makes Math More Fun July 30, 2009
If you’re in the market for making math more fun, you’ll want to check out the latest in addictive puzzles — KenKen. Invented five years ago in a Japanese classroom, KenKen (it means “cleverness squared”) features a a new Will Shortz Presents KenKen series of books ($8 each). Log on to KenKen.com to get a feel for what it’s all about, and check out the video above for an awesome walk-through with Will Shortz himself. Basically, kids fill “cages” (groups of squares) with digits that equal a target number, and the problems are varied enough that everyone from kindergartners to advanced algebra students can enjoy the fun.
Have you tried KenKen? Will you now?
Kenken rocks! It turns kids on to math, who’ve never enjoyed it before, and it really helps them develop skills like basic operations, factoring, even permutations and combinations.
I’ve made some free videos about how to solve a basic 4×4 Kenken, as well as an advanced 9×9 KenKen in which the operation signs are not given.
You can check them out at:
http://mathmojo.com/kenken
Go figure!
Brian (a.k.a. Professor Homunculus at MathMojo.com )