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Making math fun

by Rachel Metz

Math and fun are not always synonymous, but this weekend's Family Math Day at the Museum of American Heritage hopes to change that.

Presented by game collector Rita Wespi and part of the museum's celebration of History Month, the free Saturday afternoon event gives families and their elementary school students a chance to hang out and play -- while learning, of course.

Wespi, a former engineer, thinks games are much more engaging than learning math from just solving problems on paper. Wespi, who played math games with her son, began promoting the teaching method in 1997 after realizing a lot of parents don't know how to approach math in an enjoyable, meaningful manner.

"So I started this almost as a hobby, just because I felt it was a service to the kids. Then it took off from there," she said.

Now, she presents math game events at Bay Area schools. This is Wespi's second museum math day, which is expected to draw a crowd based on the 150 to 200 people who attended the first event in March, Wespi said. In anticipation of the crowd the museum will expand game activities to the building's exterior as well -- last time it was too cramped inside.

Games ready for play this weekend include historic African Mancala, Grecian Nine Men's Morris, modern American Pentominoes and many more.

In one game, the Houdini Hand Tangle, players are connected by rubber band handcuffs and must untangle themselves from each other. This game teaches topology, the study of surfaces, and very few have been able to solve it, Wespi said.

"It's probably the hardest game I bring," she said.

Wespi said the games on display make up about a third of her collection, which includes games she made up and others she either adapted or found.

"The definition of a good game to me is one that appeals to a child and an adult equally well, where the child does not find it frustrating and the parent doesn't think it's a watered-down kids' version of the game," she said.

She said a lot of people get inspired by the types of games she uses, and hopes they will get ideas they can use for learning or teaching math at home.

"The most exciting thing for me is just to see parents and kids get together and have fun with math," Wespi said.

This rings true for Karen Damp, a Cupertino gifted and talented education teacher and coordinator who attended the last family math day. Damp wrote down several book titles and took notes on games being used so she could use them in her own classes, where she said they were just as effective.

The games are very hands-on, and there were some that kids were better at than their parents, Damp said.

"Kids always think math is just a paper and a pencil but they had a lot of really fun things," she said.

Rachel Metz can be e-mailed at rmetz@paweekly.com