Verbal-Didactic Games in Math Lessons

This material is suitable for schoolchildren of all ages.

These techniques are designed for those teaching or wanting to teach visually impaired children mathematics, showing that lessons can be engaging and fun.
For children with visual impairments, their primary mechanisms for perceiving the world are tactile and auditory. The auditory channel of perception is broad and effective, while the tactile sense is limited to what can be touched or held. For children with visual impairments, hearing plays a key role in mastering the surrounding world. Auditory perception is a vital means of receiving information. The ability to perceive material through hearing helps visually impaired children understand various instructions, which are essential for independent living. It is crucial for teachers to teach visually impaired children to perceive information using all available senses. The information received should be remembered so the student can apply it later in their learning.

Arithmetic problems are an important step in mastering mathematical knowledge. However, solving many problems can be a laborious process for students. Many children struggle to read the problem’s text and don’t understand many of the words used. The lack of life experience and its comprehension is a major barrier to mastering problem-solving. For a blind child to visualize the situation described in the problem, they must fully understand the text and have a clear idea of the objects or phenomena mentioned. A problem can only be approached when all the words in the text are clear to the children. Initially, the teacher needs to perform specific vocabulary work, explaining every word that might be unclear to the children.

How can we help a child master problem-solving skills?
Let’s use joke problems in math lessons. These are playful problems with a mathematical meaning. They don’t need to be solved using regular arithmetic operations. Instead, students need to use cleverness, logic, ingenuity, and understand humor. Who said math can’t be fun?

Problem #1: The duck received 9 dollars, the spider 36 dollars, and the bee 27 dollars. Based on this information, how much money will the cat get?
Answer: 18 dollars, since each leg is worth 4.5 dollars.

Problem #2: The roof of a house is not symmetrical. One slope forms a 60-degree angle with the horizontal, and the other slope forms a 70-degree angle. Suppose a rooster lays eggs on the roof ridge. In which direction will the egg roll—towards the gentler slope or the steeper one?
Answer: Roosters don’t lay eggs.

Problem #3: An animal has 2 right legs, 2 left legs, 2 front legs, and 2 back legs. How many legs does the animal have?
Answer: 4

Problem #4: You are given 3 positive numbers. You can add these numbers together and multiply them. The result will be the same. What are these numbers?
Answer: 1, 2, and 3. Let’s check: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 × 2 × 3 = 6. Both addition and multiplication give the same result.

Problem #5: The day before yesterday, I was 18, and next year I will be 21. When is my birthday?
Answer: My birthday is on December 31. On December 30, I was still 18; on January 1, I turned 19. On December 31, I will be 20, and on December 31 of the following year, I will be 21.

Problem #6: What number decreases by 12 when flipped upside down?
Answer: 86. If you flip the paper, it becomes 98. The difference is 12.

These kinds of problems encourage children to think, reason, and find the answer by applying the knowledge they’ve gained.