This teachers is using Lego to teach her students maths

Ah, Legos. The bane of most parents’ lives. So much so that even the mere sound of the box being up-ended has the power to send shivers down our collective spines.

But it turns out, the colourful blocks can be used for better purposes that building towers or tripping parents up. In Alycia Zimmerman’s classroom in the US, Lego is an important tool for learning.

Zimmerman, who teaches third grade at Chelsea Prep in New York, uses Legos to help her students learn math. “In the classroom, the tiny bricks are now my favorite possibility-packed math manipulative!” the creative teachers wrote in a blog for Scholastic in 2013.

According to Zimmerman, the classic toy can be used to explain math concepts like fractions, multiplication and division, and she encourages parents to try and use Lego outside the playroom.

“Find some LEGO bricks in a storage closet or basement, and take some time exploring how they work,” she explains. “Count the studs, explore the dimensions, build some towers. And I guarantee, you’ll now be thinking… MATH!”

Fractions

Part vs. Total

Multiplication and division

We are convinced! Maths look WAY more fun with Lego!

Would YOU try to use toys like this to get your children more interested in maths? Or have you other tips on making learning fun you would like to share with us? Send me an e-mail at Trine.Jensen@Herfamily.ie