#66 Extend and Connect

Extend and Connect

Think of how to represent qualities of objects without using objects themselves. You can draw sizes to scale or use numbers (with older kids). There are names for colors and symbols for notes. What about textures or temperatures? Investigate the history of representations, their names and measurements, from color swatches to spectrometers.

Play blindfolded! Find the smallest of the toys by touch, in a bag, without looking inside! Many kids love to sort sandpaper by roughness or containers by weight, blindfolded.

Take turns finding opposites, extremes, or antonyms. Then find the middle way between them. This is a good car game or party game for all ages. What is between night and day? Between black and white (easy)? Between green and red (use the spectrum)? Between acquitting and convicting? List your insights in a grid. You can use computer antonym finders or lists for test prep to find challenging opposites. Discuss cultural traditions such as Aristotelian “middle state” or Buddhist “middle path.”

Play a stepping or jumping gradient game. Mark a starting line and invite your child to take a small step from it. Mark his new location. Now invite the child to make a larger step. Make another mark. Keep until you can’t make steps any larger!