Squashy Boxes

Here's another versatile (and often overlooked) resource. Squashy Boxes enable children to quickly generate 'random' numbers. They are a simple but effective tool for practising a range of rapid recall and mental calculation strategies.

Squashy Boxes are easy to make,  'pack flat', have hundreds of uses and are easy for children to manipulate;  children can also store them in their own drawers or book bags.

This downloadable pdf file* includes templates for six Squashy Boxes (plus a blank template) together with extensive teacher notes and ideas for maths activities for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children. Please note: mathstick boxes have been specifically designed to reduce the occurance of duplicate numbers - it's not just a random selection!

Make up the boxes as follows:

1.Print out the template onto thin card.
2.Protect with tacky-back plastic, if you wish.
3.Fold along all of the vertical lines
4.Fold into a cuboid shape and glue the final blank column (tab) behind the first.

The resulting cuboid, if held gently, can be turned to show four different faces – each with a different arrangement of single digit numbers. If the cuboid is squashed onto a table it can be made to show four different arrangements of 2-Digit numbers.

The mathstick characters at the top of each face are there to help children identify which 'face' they are using.

Children can now use these to (for example):

• identify odd/even numbers
• identify largest/smallest number
• identify numbers smaller/larger than __
• say which number has __ tens/units
• count on and back in tens/hundreds
• partition numbers
• generate random numbers for use in calculations
   

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