Equation puzzles

Most math practice asks a child to compute an answer: 7 + 8 = ? Equation puzzles turn that around. The answer is already on the screen, and the child works out one of the missing pieces instead. There are two kinds, and they show up mixed in with the regular questions during a lesson.

Why working backwards helps

When a child only ever fills in the result, it is easy to memorize "7 plus 8 is 15" without really seeing how the numbers fit together. Working backwards forces a different question: what goes here so that this is true? That is the thinking children use later for harder math, like solving for an unknown. It also helps them notice that 24 is 6 x 4 and 8 x 3 at the same time, so the facts start to connect instead of sitting in separate boxes.

Find the missing number

Here the blank lands on one of the numbers rather than the result. The child sees something like:

7 + ? = 15

or for division:

? ÷ 4 = 6

They type the missing number using the on-screen keypad and press CHECK. As with the regular typing questions, a typo gets one chance to fix before it costs a heart.

Build the equation

This one shows the result and gives a small tray of number tiles. A couple of those tiles are decoys that do not belong. The child taps a tile to drop it into a slot, then taps the next slot to fill it, building a statement that is true. Tap a filled slot and the tile goes back to the tray, so it is easy to change your mind.

Because more than one pair of numbers can be right, any true equation the child builds is accepted. If the result is 24 and the right tiles are there, both 6 x 4 and 4 x 6 work. That is the point. Children start to see the family of facts behind a single number instead of one fixed answer.