rss
mobile
Feeds
After years of playing a game he'd invented that includes different skill levels of math with his daughters, Fulton brought his idea to life in the form of a board game called MathMindz.
When Jacqueline Simmons' first-grade class at Shell Point Elementary School got the chance to try the colorful game earlier this month, students clamored to play. When four students were selected, other class members joined in to help solve a math problem so the players could move their pawns to the next level. The first-graders know they are learning when they play the game, but the fun of playing makes learning more enjoyable.
"It is a (more fun) way to learn math ... and everybody likes to play games," said Piper Reid, 7. "And sometimes parents want kids to learn and sometimes kids want to play and MathMindz combines the two."
Fulton holds degrees in early childhood education and psychology, and having traveled for seven years as a logistics manager for an early childhood educational company, he was knowledgeable of learning products. The original MathMindz was drawn on a poster board and featured colorful red apples, hexagons, plus and minus signs and people. As Fulton played the game with his family, he made changes based on their suggestions. He spent four years researching and studying the importance of keeping the fun factor in the game before he secured his patent.
The original board game, for ages 5 and older and for two to eight players, begins with players who spin a wheel twice. The first spin decides whether they will add or subtract and selects the first number of an equation. The next spin gives them the second number in the equation. Players who calculate the equation correctly move forward the same number of spaces as the result of the equation.
One factor helping students stay motivated is that the game, unlike other board games, never sends the player back to the beginning.
"You stay in your space and there is always success," said Lynn Sherman-Nelson, Shell Point Elementary School assistant principal. She said the game is being used at the school's extended learning days program and for all ages who need extra help with basic math.
"The kids like it and we find hands-on learning for kids engages them more," she said.
Fulton said part of what makes the game so interesting for students is that it's designed not to be overwhelming.
"No one fails at this game," said Fulton, a 1988 graduate of Battery Creek High School. "Kids feel a sense of success."
