#45 For All Ages

For All Ages

Grown-ups: Help kids repeat the same action reliably, for they tend to forget the rule between iterations or change it whimsically. Keep up the scavenger hunt for iterating functions and repeating cycles in stories, games, or household activities.

Babies: Babies like to repeat their favorite actions many, many times. They are naturals at this game! For example, a function machine can add a railroad car to Thomas the Tank Engine® when he passes the station. Assemble the track into a loop and build a really long train!

Toddlers and Young Kids: Place a few toys around a big chair or bed. Walk along this round toy path “visiting” each toy and calling out, drawing, or writing down who you visit. Repeat again and again. Many toddlers love this game and, surprisingly, find it challenging to predict what’s next, especially with five to seven toys total – even after many repetitions!

Big Kids: Make a shape out of counters, then make the shape grow, then make it grow again, and again, and again – predictably. Guess how each next step is made out of the previous (the recursive formula). Can you predict 10th or 100th step (the closed formula)?