Magnetic Blocks

Here's another favorite magnetic puzzle, or play thing. It has that great "pop into place" feel as the pieces go together. There are 24 identical pieces that make a cube and plenty of other interesting shapes. Fooling around with it gives people mathematical insights, and under a teacher's guidance with a little questioning it can be turned into a great lesson in area, perimeter, and volume, angles and more. But for the most part it's just fun. It's called Mag-Blocks.

PhysLink the Science eStore carry's the 24 piece set ($14.99). This looks like a great place to get interesting learning things for home or classroom.

Discount School Supply offers a double 48 piece set $21.95 - that's two cubes. What a deal! Check it out! Whoa! As of 10/2/07 the 48 piece set was on sale for $17.95 - that's a really good deal. However the colors changed and it's hard to tell if the pieces are the same size. But I'm gettin' one now.

Concrete or Abstract Manipulatives

I was talking about "virtual manipulatives" with teachers from Willow Creek Academy and some of them brought up the fact that younger students really need the concrete experience with real objects. I certainly agree since there's nothing like "hands on" experiences. But the digital versions of traditional manipulatives, like these online pattern blocks, are still great for those who are moving from concrete to abstract, and for children who might like to play online at home with parents when the real thing isn't available. It's also the case that online you can change the color of the blocks, you can have as many blocks as you like - no shortage, and you don't have to worry about bumping your pattern and messing it up. Plus students can grab a screen, put the design in a word processor and write about it, which is a wonderful way to get students to articulate ideas about patterns and other mathematical relationships.

For those who want the real thing you can find nice wooden pattern blocks online, or even Giant foam pattern blocks for the floor from Learning Resources