August 24, 2010

Thinking Games

Classic thinking games are a great way to tune up your brain. You can use these mind games to help you increase your brain power and to get you out of your thinking "ruts." Play them enough, and they'll habituate you to using creative problem solving as a normal part of thinking about things.

Thinking Games For Groups

Group thinking games are especially good for long trips in a car. Have someone look out the window, for example, and randomly choose an object. Everyone in the car then tries to imagine a new way to make money with it. Common street signs become places to advertise, trees are sold with names, and a truck becomes a traveling grocery store.

Use the "change of perspective" technique as a problem-solving game. Just pick any topic, and see who can come up with the most unique new perspective. Could there be a world where jobs weren't necessary? How would a virus define morality if it was conscious?

One creative thinking game uses a technique called "concept combination." You simply combine random concepts or things in interesting ways, and see who has the best idea. A chair and a microwave? Maybe an easy-chair with a built-in cooler, microwave and television, or microwavable "couch potatoes" - a potato snack in the shape of a couch.

More Thinking Games

A lateral thinking puzzle you can try right now involves nine dots, layed out three by three. Connect them all with four straight lines, without lifting the pen or pencil from the paper. When you figure this one out you'll appreciate the expression "thinking outside of the box."

Many lateral-thinking puzzles use a scenario, real or imagined, with a selection of things you have to use to accomplish something. Imagine a ping-pong ball in an iron pipe that's set in cement. The pipe sticks up three-feet high, and has almost the same diameter as the ball. Using only a box of frosted-flakes, and a t-shirt, and your body and mind, how many ways can you find to get the ball out of the pipe? You could also set this up for real, to know if a proposed solution will really work.

Many riddles are just mind games or lateral-thinking puzzles. You move laterally in your mind, away from your usual line of thought, to solve a riddle. For example, what did his friends do when the canibal was late for dinner? They gave him the cold shoulder, of course! Keeping your brain in shape doesn't have to be a matter of serious study. Why not play some thinking games?

Thinking Games

Editorial ReviewEquate looks a bit like Scrabble--for aspiring mathematicians, that is. Designed by a real mathematician, it works like this: You put down tiles on a board and make points by correctly completing simple equations. Your nine tiles include both numbers and mathematical symbols; you can add on to previous plays both vertically and horizontally. Learn simple stuff (like what division is) and more sophisticated ideas (like the order of precedence among arithmetic operations). It all adds up. --Richard Farr

Teacher ReviewAccording to the rule book, "This game is not about speed; it's about thinking." Not the sort of game you begin just before dinner, Equate is a ready-made addiction for math junkies and strategists. But the game is also a perfect way to put some fun into what might otherwise be a toilsome subject for those less experienced with math. It's something like a crossword puzzle game, with mathematical equations substituting for words. Using sturdy cardboard tiles drawn from a bag, players take turns devising true equations and placing them on a grid-like game board, connecting them with others already laid down by opponents. You earn points by the complexity of your equation and by strategically placing it to take advantage of bonus squares that can double or even triple your score. The bag includes whole numbers, fractions, and three blank tiles (to be used as any number), along with several symbol tiles for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For beginners, there are several options you can use to simplify the game: divide the number tiles and the operation tiles into separate piles (so new players don't wind up with six division symbols and three numbers); bring in fraction tiles gradually, starting with halves; or keep the game at its simplest level by using just addition and subtraction tiles. (If you're playing with less experienced mathematicians, purchase an additional tile set so you still have lots of options after eliminating unwanted tiles.) And for the budding Euclids in our midst, there's an advanced tile that includes integers and integer exponents. --A former homeschool educator, Julie Robinson currently manages a hands-on lab employing three gifted and professional toy testers ranging in age from 5 to 12.

Have fun creating equations crossword-style. Equate is a great math board game for family and classroom. Earn higher scores using division or fraction tiles and landing on premium board positions. Great for the classroom and family. Includes a laminated playing board, 190 tiles stored in two zip-lock bags, 23-page rules booklet with math review, and 4 racks behind which players hide their tiles. For 2-4 players or teams. Many levels of play for ages 8 to adult.

Thinking Games Pic

Thinking Games Picture

Thinking Games Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful.
Great idea, but
By Soccer Mom
We played the game with gifted kids and adults age 9-40-plus and were surprised to find the kids were able to hold their own. But, like scrabble, the turns take forever! And, the scrabble concept doesn't really work well with the operators (=.+,-); too soon you run out of space on the sides as equations are much longer than words. You can't put two equations as close as two words and so there is much less opportunity for creativity in placing your pieces (e.g. you cannot make two equations in two directions; sometimes there are only one or two locations where it is possible to add an equation). We were getting scores of 10-30 points per turn, then one person added the following to an existing equation "0 X 34567 5/6 +." By hitting a triple equation score and got more than 270 points on one hand thereby effectively ending the game that had been relatively even. It seemed unfair even to him! Great idea flawed by long waits and poor design; unlikely to play it twice. C

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
educational & fun
By a person
My sister actually found this game and my daughter played it at her house with my sister's husband. She liked it so much that we decided to buy it. As most parents, I'm always looking for ways to supplement my daughter's education. This turned out to be a fun way to get my daughter to think about math differently. Because she liked scrabble, she already knew the basic ideas about tile placement. We made it a little easier by allowing her to ask for help but she had to check our equations or finish them. The game is long but could be stopped at any time and I do agree that the plastic is not as nice as wood. However, in general, she asks to play this board game (which allows for more math practice) and it's definitely fun for the whole family.