Hands-On Maths at the Cambridge Science Festival!

Over 500 enthusiastic visitors joined us for our Cambridge Science Festival Hands-On Maths Fair on Saturday 24 March 2018. Aimed at a family audience, the Hands-On Maths Fair featured activities for all ages from 5 upwards. The activities at the Hands-On Maths Fair are designed to encourage children (and adults) to explore, experiment, discover, question and enjoy! Many are based on activities from our NRICH Hands-On Maths Roadshow, or adapted from other ideas and resources from the NRICH website and accompanying Wild Maths website. Over 30 student volunteers from the Cambridge Mathematics Faculty joined the MMP team as helpers and facilitators. We were also joined by researchers from the Cambridge Image Analysis group, whose pop-up lab featured lively and accessible demonstrations of their work including the Face Fusion Photo Booth. The day was hugely popular - one visitor tweeted: 'My 8 year old son said the Maths day is one of his favourite days of the year. Right up there with Christmas Day and his Birthday. Many thanks to you all!' Another happy parent emailed to say: "We attended this event on Saturday and I just wanted to say it was worth the three hour drive each way! Well organised with a really impressive group of people who encouraged and engaged. At the tables gentle guidance promoting independent thinking. The lecturers were wonderful. Not just the subject but really the delivery. My goal was for my son to be around others who enjoy mathematics and to see the possibilities of it beyond a text book. We got all that and so much more." Try some of the day's favourite activities for yourself at home:

• Factors and Multiples Game
• Creating Squares interactive game
• Got It! interactive game
• Who's Who? puzzle
• Folding and cutting challenges - what shapes can you make by folding a piece of paper and then making a single cut? Can you make each of the letters of your name?