As a math teacher, I love anything that promotes math literacy and makes math fun. So I love the idea behind Bedtime Math - giving kids excuses to stay up late to do the math problem. The blog on the site posts problems, and you can also get the iPhone/iPad app, or the book (which contains problems that haven't been published on the site, and is nice for doing at bedtime if you don't want to bring a computer into the kids' room). The nice thing with the problems is that there's a fun intro, and then there are problems for wee ones, little kids, and big kids, each a little harder than the previous one. So the book grows with your kids - and you can go through it three different times, or take a little extra time to go through all three in one night. There's also a special parent/educator blog.
The problems are cute. The intro is nice to set the stage, and it helps provide context for math problems. Some problems are a little more applicable to real life than others, and many inject a sense of humor. As an example, here's the intro for today's problem on the blog, The Last Straw.
Why do we drink through straws sometimes? Straws let us avoid a mess on our faces - no more milk mustaches - but they make more of a mess when you pull the straw out of your drink because an ice cube or gob of ice cream is blocking it, and then whatever's in there drips all over your lap. Thankfully, straws offer other forms of fun that make up for this. For one, if you stop drinking and quickly blow across the top of the straw, it will make a fun sliding "wee-ooo" whistling sound as the liquid falls (it works really well with a thick, slow-moving milkshake). Then there's the bendy straw, whose zigzaggy folds stretch out when you pull on the ends. The crazy straw might be the best of all, with loop-de-loops that give your drink its own roller-coaster ride - if you and your milkshake can handle the excitement. Click for the math!
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