CONWAY — Who said math couldn’t be fun?

At Conway Grammar School on Wednesday, students participated in a Math Day celebration, an annual tradition set up to celebrate students’ progress in math and to reinforce some of the concepts they learned through a day of activities and games.

While Math Day hasn’t had a theme in the past, Wednesday’s event was focused around games and gameplay, and how concepts such as problem solving, critical thinking and spatial awareness play a part in the games, math and everyday life.

“Math doesn’t have to be doing facts on a sheet of paper,” said first grade teacher Jennifer Wheeler, who chairs the committee that organized Math Day. “It’s just about getting children and families to think about math differently.”

One example of that was the activity happening in the library, where students took Bee Bots — bee-themed robots that travel a set distance — and used their observation skills to estimate how far the bots traveled in a single burst. They then took colored blocks to measure the distance traveled to compare to their estimates, helping them build their estimation, measurement and thinking skills.

On the court next to the playground, the math skills were more subliminal, as kids participated in a variety of games like Jenga, chess and Connect 4. Wheeler said these games develop spatial awareness — which was also a target in the LEGO station in the kindergarten classroom — and problem solving, as well as real-world skills like teamwork, communicating with friends and other social skills.

“When you do this, you can see the teamwork that’s necessary for math … and it’s a lot of fun,” Wheeler said. “These are also skills that help when working with numbers.”

Building community was also a focus of the day, with the sixth grade students designing activities for the rest of the school to take part in. Other math-themed puzzles, like Sudoku, were also available.

Principal Kristen Gordon said the goal of the day was to set aside some time for fun activities while also, hopefully, inspiring students to take an interest in math.

“It’s a nice culmination of [the year’s lessons],” Gordon said. “We want kids to love math. I know a day isn’t going to do that … but a day at the end of the year may solidify it.”

Math Day joins numerous other full-day events the Conway Grammar School puts on throughout the year, with Read Across America Day leading the way. Other events they have include a poetry day and STEAM day, which celebrates science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Having days of fun events, Gordon said, helps children process the skills they’ve learned, while also creating a “happy, safe environment,” which creates a stronger learning environment.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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