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mathforlove.bsky.social
Dan Finkel
@mathforlove.bsky.social
1.3K followers 210 following 200 posts
Founder, Math for Love, mathforlove.com.
Dedicated to giving everyone a chance and a reason to fall in love with mathematics.
Curriculum writer, game developer, speaker, teacher of teachers.
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mathforlove.bsky.social
If you're a teacher or educator in the state of #Maine who works to teach or support math for 3rd - 5th graders, you can sign up for a series of virtual workshops I'll be leading to support Numeracy.

#iteachmath
Learn more and apply - registration closes Friday!
forms.office.com/g/4HXtFY8tST
Poster promoting workshop series on Unlocking Numeracy
January 14, 2026 at 6:12 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
Here's a super small game you can play anytime with no materials.
mathforlove.com/2026/01/trif...
Trifle - a new, very small game - Math For Love
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mathforlove.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
inv3math.bsky.social
1: Kids who had more time for free play...made way more progress in the lesson.
2. Using [manips] upped dramatically how much math the kids did.
3. Even when [they] weren’t doing exactly what we’d asked, they were doing math.
4. Manipulatives make it easier – even automatic – to differentiate.
January 5, 2026 at 7:46 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
New blog post!

On the value of manipulatives in some recent work with first graders.

mathforlove.com/2026/01/mani...
Manipulatives in Math Class Are So Worth It - Math For Love
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mathforlove.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
johngolden.bsky.social
Dan advocating for hands on math mathforlove.com/2026/01/mani... @mathforlove.bsky.social A wise teacher taught me his no.1 point and I >never< regret it.
Manipulatives in Math Class Are So Worth It - Math For Love
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mathforlove.com
January 4, 2026 at 10:55 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
Finding myself absorbed in the details of this story of someone tutoring a student who has learned to dislike math, and how they worked their way to joy (as well as proficiency).

www.earlyfamilymath.org/newsletters/...
December 2025 — Early Family Math
Welcome to EFM's December Newsletter! Read, Count, Play – Every Child, Every Day! It is essential that every caregiver in the world reads books and does math with their young children! ...
www.earlyfamilymath.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
In June 2025, I continued to explore radial designs by arranging heptagons around a central hexagon in a new arrangement! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The designs are displayed in a 3 by 3 grid, featuring 3 unique pattern block designs from my June 2025 collection. The first and third columns show the heptagons that were used to create the radial designs shown in the middle column. The designs are created by using two differently arranged heptagons–the inner layer uses six heptagons of the first arrangement, the outer layer uses twelve heptagons of the second arrangement.
December 16, 2025 at 7:48 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
On a fun side note, I've been working on a new board game with my brothers. Really a fun project :-)

We'll Kickstart it in 2026 (first Kickstarter in over 5 years!).

Take a sneak peek below. You can also sign up to get notified when we go live!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/fin...
Coming soon: Battle of the Species
The breakthrough game where animals battle in epic and hilarious showdowns in their native habitats and beyond.
www.kickstarter.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
In June 2025, I continued to explore radial designs by arranging heptagons around a central hexagon in a new arrangement! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The designs feature 4 unique pattern block creations from my June 2025 collection. The first row at the top shows the heptagons that were used to create the radial designs shown in the second and third rows. This collection highlights radial designs created by arranging six heptagons (pointing towards the center) around a central hexagon.
December 15, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
In April 2025, I explored radial designs by arranging heptagons around a central hexagon. #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The designs are displayed in a 3 by 3 grid, featuring 3 unique pattern block designs from my April 2025 collection. The first and third columns show the heptagons that were used to create the radial designs shown in the middle column. The designs are created by using two differently arranged heptagons–the inner layer uses six heptagons of the first arrangement, the outer layer uses twelve heptagons of the second arrangement.
December 12, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
mathematize4all.bsky.social
#ITeachMath SO MUCH MATH
neal.fun Neal Agarwal @neal.fun · Dec 10
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 11, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
neal.fun
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
grassrootsworkshops.com
What if one tiny change could make a huge impact on how students learn in your math class? Learn to use openers to energize & motivate students in grades 1-9.

Learn more about Dan Finkel's @mathforlove.bsky.social How to Use Mathematical Openers online workshop: grassrootsworkshops.com/wor...
December 9, 2025 at 1:22 AM
mathforlove.bsky.social
The real deep cut in this comic from @smbccomics.bsky.social is the 37%. That's a serious math reference right there.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/capita...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Capital
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Capital
www.smbc-comics.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
In February 2025, I explored radial designs by arranging six octagons around a central star. #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The designs feature 4 unique pattern block creations from my February 2025 collection. The first row at the top shows the octagons that were used to create the radial designs shown in the second and third rows. This collection highlights radial designs created by arranging six octagons around a central star.
December 5, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
howiehua.bsky.social
It's Mental Math Monday with @mikeflynn55.bsky.social. How would you mentally calculate 88×8 without using any 8s?
December 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
This month I’ll be sharing some of my favorite designs from 2025! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The images are arranged in a 4 by 4 grid, with the center four squares merged to highlight a larger design. It features 13 unique pattern block creations from my 2025 collection.
December 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
davidkbutler.bsky.social
This is how we organised the Prime Climb board at One Hundred Factorial today. (cc @mathforlove.bsky.social ).
A photo of a large section of concrete floor with giant cards laid out, each with a Prime Climb circled number drawn on it. The outside is a ring of fully red prime numbers, except for 0 and 1 near the bottom. Close to this ring are four areas, one where the numbers are coloured yellow and red, green and red, purple and red and blue and red. Then there are fully yellow, fully green, fully purple and fully blue. Between them are ones with a mix of two colours, and right in the centre, ones with at least three colours.
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
inv3math.bsky.social
"'6yo: If 0 + 0 is 1, then would 8 times 0 be 4?'

... These “What if” questions are a sign that a child is taking a sort of radical ownership over their mathematical thinking. ... He wants something to be true to explore an idea, so he’s just doing it"!
mathforlove.bsky.social Dan Finkel @mathforlove.bsky.social · Nov 12
My 6yo asked me this morning:

"If 0 + 0 = 1, would 8 times 0 be 4?"

I wrote a blog post about it.
mathforlove.com/2025/11/big-...

#tmwyk #iteachmath #mtbos
Big Ifs - Math For Love
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mathforlove.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
fawnnguyen.substack.com
Happy Friday!
Finally had time to write—latest post on having students create the questions: fawnnguyen.substack.com/p/when-stude...
When Students Write the Questions
An alternative to endless practice: let students create the questions
fawnnguyen.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
Pattern block play! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The main image in the top left shows a radial design created with 21st Century Pattern Blocks. It was built by arranging six regular hexagons around a central hexagon. All seven hexagons share the same composition and have 4” sides. The first image along the bottom shows a scaled-up equilateral triangle which is used to create the regular hexagon (with 4” sides) shown in the second image. The triangle is made of 1 teal kite, 2 green triangles, 2 red trapezoids, and 2 pink triangles. The three images on the right show the progression of the design.
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
Pattern block play! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The main image in the top left shows a radial design created with 21st Century Pattern Blocks. It was built by arranging six regular hexagons around a central hexagon. All seven hexagons share the same composition and have 4” sides. The first image along the bottom shows a scaled-up equilateral triangle which is used to create the regular hexagon (with 4” sides) shown in the second image. The triangle is made of 1 teal kite, 2 green triangles, 2 red trapezoids, and 2 pink triangles. The three images on the right show the progression of the design.
November 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
We've recently been playing a modified version of Prime Climb with our son. If you have Prime Climb already and want to try playing with younger players (i.e., 6+), try out this version. It's been really fun!

mathforlove.com/2025/11/prim...
Prime Climb Rules for Younger Players - Math For Love
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mathforlove.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Dan Finkel
murrayh83.bsky.social
Pattern block play! #21CenturyPB #iTeachMath
The main image in the top left shows a radial design created with 21st Century Pattern Blocks. It was built by arranging six regular hexagons around a central hexagon. All seven hexagons share the same composition and have 4” sides. The first image along the bottom shows a scaled-up equilateral triangle which is used to create the regular hexagon (with 4” sides) shown in the second image. The triangle is made of 1 yellow hexagon, 1 purple hexagon, 2 green triangles, and 2 pink triangles. The three images on the right show the progression of the design.
November 13, 2025 at 6:52 PM
mathforlove.bsky.social
Love to see this press about another Math Room from @mathhappens.bsky.social!

www.fox8live.com/video/2025/1...
LA Children’s Museum
www.fox8live.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:40 PM