Monday, February 13, 2012

Math Post-it Note Scavenger Hunt


My son asked me for another scavenger hunt last week. I wanted to do something different, though (see our other hunts here and here). Blissful and Domestic provided some much-needed inspiration: a post-it note hunt!

To practice some subtraction, I grabbed 20 post-its, a Sharpie marker, and a pencil. I wrote down ten subtraction problems and their answers on a separate piece of paper.

I wrote the first problem on the front of a post-it note to give to my son at the start of our hunt.

Now I wrote the answer with a Sharpie on the front of the next note. On the back of it, I wrote the next math problem in pencil (so it wasn’t see-through). I continued to do this until all the answers and problems were written on the post-its. On the post-it note with the last answer, though, there was no problem. Instead, I wrote, “Good job! There is a prize for you in my bathroom.” (I had to hide it somewhere he doesn't usually go.)

I wrote random numbers on 10 other post-its; these had no problems on the back. If my son picked one of them mistakenly, he’d know he answered wrong since the back was blank.


Now I ran around sticking post-its everywhere!

My son barely dropped his backpack at the front door when he saw the post-it notes I’d scattered in our living room, kitchen, and entryway. His curiosity was piqued and he was chomping at the bit to get going.


I gave him the first post-it, the one with the problem written on the front and off he went, answering problems and dashing around to find the post-its with the answers. When he grabbed the last answer and read the note, his legs carried him at lightning speed to the puzzle.


This took 5 minutes to prepare and barely any materials. And the result was one happy boy who is now the proud owner of an inexpensive (and awesome) Star Wars puzzle.

17 comments:

  1. How fun! I'll have to show this to my husband - he loves making scavenger hunts for the kids!

    Thanks for sharing with Learning Laboratory at Mama Smiles =)

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  2. This is really cute! (BTW...This is a treasure hunt. Scavenger hunts are usually played with teams who are given a list of things (often unusual items)to find before getting back to home base. The first team back with the most items wins.)

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  3. I love that you used this for math!! What an awesome idea!! Totally trying this today. Thanks for the link back too

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  4. I am yet to try a treasure hunt with my daughter. I bet she will love this idea, especially if there is a prize involved.

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  5. Fabulous idea, and just what I was looking for. Been looking for something different to do...thanks for the idea!

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  6. That's a great idea. My kids love it when I hide stuff for them to find. In the past I have hidden three letters in different places C-A-T They have to find the letters and figure out the word.

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  7. Very cool! I am all for making things a game, as they then have little knowledge that they are doing it. Great fun!


    Thanks for linking to science sparks Fun Sparks!

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  8. Just wanted to let you know we DID do this activity and the boys DID love it! :) Thanks again for another fabulous, very use-able idea!

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  9. If you purchase the super sticky post-its and line them up stick side in first...you can print them with your ink jet or laser jet printer. Just make sure the sticky line of the post it goes in the printer first

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  10. I actually have suggested a much more basic idea to my parents. I like your idea much better. Wonderful stuff. Thanks.

    Just found your site and love it already!
    http://teachifie.com

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  11. Doing this tomorrow! Thanks!!

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  12. Oh, that sounds like such fun! I could incorporate it into my middle school (6th and 8th grade) math classes...I'm always looking for interactive activities, so please keep these coming :)

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  13. I know what my kids will be doing for math on our first day of homeschool! Thanks!

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  14. This is a truly inventive activity. I just Tweeted about it and my wife and I will try it with our kids - thanks!

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  15. I use this in my classroom to review the chapter we are working on. The students love this. It gives them a chance to walk around the classroom and do math at the same time.

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  16. GENIUS, absolutely genius a! Thank you sooooo much! My child hates homework but grown to love scavenger hunts! This is a perfect summer refresher fun idea! Thank you SOO much

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