I'll start with links that emanate from the first page of a Google search for "Halloween math" free.
Some of the pages are seriously flawed, like this one from a website in Samoa.
Halloween Word Problem - Grade 2
There are grammatical errors; the "problem" fails to pose a question before asking for a math equation; it is a simple addition word problem dressed up in Halloween clothing.
Many are just typical busy work pages with pumpkin clip art around the edges--would your child really think this has to do with Halloween?
.jpg)
The edhelper.com website looked promising, but most of the pages I was interested in required a subscription. I did like this logic puzzle page (free) which had closer ties to Halloween than most of what I was finding:
Brandon, Lauren, Kylie, Robert, and Ashley went trick or treating together. They each wore a different costume (a ghost, a pirate, Spiderman, a witch, and a skeleton). At the end of the day, each of them counted the number of pieces of candy he or she collected. They each collected a different number of pieces of candy (63, 77, 83, 54, and 84).
Figure out the costume worn by each person and the amount of candy each person collected.
1.
|
Brandon was not a pirate.
|
|
2.
|
The boys (Robert and Brandon) costumes included a pirate and Spiderman.
|
|
3.
|
Lauren and Kylie collected a total of 161 pieces of candy.
|
|
4.
|
The ghost collected 77 pieces of candy.
|
|
5.
|
The pirate collected 83 pieces of candy.
|
|
6.
|
Ashley and Lauren collected a total of 140 pieces of candy.
|
|
7.
|
The witch collected the most pieces of candy.
|
(I corrected the grammatical errors, and made sure it could be solved using the given clues.)
Sometimes, using Halloween-themed pictures IS enough. See this pattern recognition page for pre-schoolers:
Halloween Pattern Recognition Worksheet | Classroom Jr.
Getting frustrated at the lack of quality, I decided to use NCTM as a search term (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). Of course that produced pages where I had access only because I am a member.
One of the articles referred to a book, The Thirteen Days of Halloween, (a variation of The Twelve Days of Christmas), which presents a problem solving situation.
A ghoul attempts to court his "ghoulfriend" by bringing her gifts.
On the first day of Halloween, he gives her a vulture in a dead tree.
On the second day, he gives her two hissing cats and a vulture in
a dead tree. The pattern continues on subsequent days, adding
three fat toads, four giggling ghosts, five cooked worms,
six owls a-hooting, seven spiders creeping, eight brooms a-flying,
nine wizards whizzing, ten goblins gobbling, eleven bats
a-swooping, and twelve cauldrons bubbling. On the thirteenth day
of Halloween, the ghoulfriend invites her suitor to tea and gives him
a real, live mystery gift.
Many questions can be posed. What is the total number of gifts each day? altogether? How many vultures (or cats, or toads, etc.) altogether?
It is rich with possibilities!
A free link at pbs http://pbskids.sproutonline.me/cyberchase/parentsteachers/lessons/pdf/halloween/CYB_Halloween_Tips_for_Parents.pdf
had suggestions for parents similar to those I've put together.(check back later)
Posts
