DICE COUNTERS (ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION, DIVISION)

myminifactory

Millions of elementary children across the world struggle with basic addition and subtraction. Many young kids complain that they dislike math because it is too challenging, and they believe they are not intelligent enough. This mindset among children can have a profound effect on any child struggling with mathematics. Math is a subject that builds upon itself year after year, and not understanding simple concepts of addition and subtraction at an early age leads to children underperforming compared to their peers and becoming disinterested. Students begin to develop anxiety over mathematics, creating toxic learning environments in the classroom. Putting a piece of paper with equations in front of an elementary student is not always the answer. Students start to feel isolated, have intense emotional reactions, and negative self-talk while holding a pencil. Our early educators struggle to find interactive and fun activities for these students as their peers continue ahead. Many telling signs that students are struggling with mathematics include negative comments about math, becoming anxious around math, lower math grades compared to all other grades, trouble connecting with family and friends, difficulty paying attention in class, and not meeting benchmarks developed by schools. Fortunately, there are solutions for parents and educators. Changing stationary activities to hands-on activities has a positive impact on students' ability to learn. Using large visual aids helps students remember concepts and forget about the anxiety they feel over math, focusing on the task at hand. All students learn in different ways; some benefit from showing them how to do an activity, while others need interactive activities to help them learn, or learning better in groups when their peers are helping them. Kinesthetic learners need to move to be successful and have excellent physical memory. Activities built on movement and doing something physical are ideal for students who struggle with math and are not stuck just holding a pencil. Enter the dice counters. Instead of sitting a child down in front of a piece of paper and asking them to work through a problem, they are engaged and excited to have a hands-on activity. Three dice, two with numbers 1-6 and another with simple addition and subtraction signs, can turn a nightmare night at the table with your child into a fun interactive activity. Educators can split children into small groups, and they can help each other work through the problem, making them feel less alone and more excited about simple math. The 3D printing community is a great cost-saving way to create educational aids, such as dice counters, to enable all kids to be successful in school. Printing these three different dice on a 3D printer can cost as little as six cents (11 grams of filament per dice, 1 kg of filament costs approximately $20). For example, your school has three kindergarten classes and each class needs 20 sets. Your total cost would be $3.60 for an interactive activity that your kids will enjoy. The plastic is safe, durable, and could last forever. A 2 1/2" x 2 ½" x 2 ½" foam dice per dozen costs $8. $16 per class, three classes ($48), and this is before you even get the addition and subtraction dice. A simple cost-effective way to make simple math more exciting for all kids thanks to the 3D printing community.