My inspiration for "Across & Down" comes from Scrabble. Players have to make interlocking English words. The board has "ghost" letters on it. For example if you place a "z" on a "z", you score 8 points.
You're looking at a map with straight borders. Your task is to colour in the map so that no two bordering countries have the same colour.
Usually called "Dots & Boxes", this activity revisits the game from our childhood but here the students get to play against me.
A game of discovery and strategy inspired by the Adventure games of the 70s.
My inspiration for this activity comes from Australian Aboriginal Art. DidgArt offers several drawing shapes which can easily be coloured, re-sized or rotated. Drawings can be saved and retrieved at any time.
The cards are dealt out and accepted or rejected according to a simple secret rule - e.g. "all cards must be red". There are 19 different rules. The picture shows odd and even numbers alternating.
A simple yet entertaining interactive introduction to Chess. Covers piece moves, capture, protection, pawn promotion, checkmate and stalemate. Includes 4 playable end games with the winning strategy demonstrated.
A simple little game which requires good concentration. Pupils are presented with an ever increasing sequence of pictures which they have to imitate. The Best Score is 'remembered' so the game provides a continual challenge to improve. My best is 40.
Fit the ten coloured pieces into the square. There are ten different puzzles - each starts with a different piece in the top left corner.
In a jumble of 83 objects, the player has to locate 20. Each deal is different.
Inspired by the TV show, "Letters and Numbers". Players are given 8 letters and have to make as long an English word as possible.
This is one of my favourite games - very simple to play yet it requires lots of careful thought, counting and planning.
The second of Peter the Magician's Puzzle Activities. Inspired by the TV game, "Letters and Numbers". Players have to make a target number from 3 single digit numbers using only plus and multiply. There are 10 levels which can be set by the player.
The picture shows Level 3 completely solved. The shapes are made from 5 squares and are called pentominoes. Level 4 requires the player to find the 35 hexominoes.
20 exciting jigsaws - each with 40 unique pieces. Pieces are randomly rotated but there is a button to make them all the right way up. Note that this a large download (over 20 MegaBytes) - check your Journal has enough space before downloading.
20 exciting jigsaws - each with 12 unique pieces. This is a simplified version of PJ for younger children - the pieces are all the right way up. Note that this a large download (over 20M) - check your Journal has enough space before downloading.
Peter's Moving Jigsaws - 12 pictures to choose from - rectangular pieces. Pieces are swapped until the puzzle is solved. Note that this a fairly large download (over 4 MegaBytes) - check your Journal has enough space before downloading.
Six coloured turtles pursue each other producing beautiful patterns.
Easy to follow interactive tutorial for Python and Pygame. Aim is to allow keen students to discover if computer programming is for them.
The grid is broken up into coloured rectangles but, at the start, only ONE square from each rectangle shows its colour. This square also shows the area (ie the number of squares) of the rectangle. The player must find all the rectangles.
This is my take on the old game of "Battleships". Four shapes are "hidden" on the grid. Left click on a square if you think it is part of a shape. Otherwise right click.
SimCom is a Simple Computer that really works. Pupils can see what really goes on behind the scenes in a real computer. The picture shows a program running and printing the prime numbers.
A game requiring careful thought and planning. It may be played in tablet mode. Use the turtle to push the red boxes onto the red targets.
A 3D version of Ominoes but limited to 4 or 5 cubes. The picture shows the 4 cube version almost solved. Tablet mode works here.
The first of Peter the Magician's Puzzle Activities. Can be regarded as a pre-turtle exploration. A simple pattern has to be created with only 5 numbers. Pattern complexity increases with success.
Each tile is placed so that it is alone in its row, column and coloured square. Always there is at least one tile that can be placed with certainty - no trial and error is required.
This activity indulges my passion for tessellations and jigsaws. It includes the 3 regular tessellations (1 polygon) and the 8 semi-regular ones (2 or more polygons). And one Alhambra Tessellation as a Grand Finale.
Tiles are placed so that the numbers run in sequence from left to right and down the grid. Numbers may also repeat. A tile placed on its ghost image scores.
The challenge is to find 10 sets of 3 matching cards. Great workout for the memory!
Another "pre-turtle" activity. This one I see as following on from "Spirolaterals". Students can specify the number of repeats and the angle. Once a polygon is created, it becomes available for more complex pattern creation.