Young Math — Mobius Noodles and Beginners Groups

The Mobius Noodles math circle welcomes children of all ages with an accompanying adult. The Beginners math circle welcomes first through third graders. Mathematics is enhanced by a variety of perspectives.

Hopes for young mathematicians

When it comes to children and mathematics, what are your hopes and dreams? Parents tell us that they want math to make sense, bring joy, and give powerful tools to solve life’s problems. Parents also worry that formal, dry experiences dull their children’s curiosity. As organizers of math circles, we dream about every child having at least one happy math memory. We want children to have a taste of math as a social activity in a supportive group. The math circle can become a foundation for confidence and creativity in mathematics.

Activities come from published and upcoming books by Natural Math and from colleagues at other math circles. Since 1996, Natural Math has been making advanced mathematics accessible to everyone in kind ways. You may have seen articles about playful calculus for 5-year-olds, or hands-on activities at math and science festivals.

What this is about

Math is what you make it. Build and share your own math creations: pose problems, craft models, tell stories, ask questions, and make art.
Grow your math eyes. See fractals, sequences, or graphs everywhere you go. Experience how accessible and friendly math can be.
Pretend-play to be a mathematician. Find brave, persistent, and curious role models in history, fiction, and meetings.
Have an adventure. Try new ways to learn, collaborate, and join the creative community.
Level up in math kindness. Learn about emotional support. Develop healthy habits and attitudes. Prevent math anxiety and heal math grief.
An enthusiastic “YES!” Discover math choices. What variables make math beautiful, useful, and fun — for you? Cultivate your math joy.

What this is not about

Not a competition. No competitive activities. If participants spontaneously compete with one another, facilitators gently redirect them to collaboration.
Not domineering. Precise in formulas, not strict with one another.
Not test prep. Activities are extracurricular and supportive of general mathematics development, not any particular school topic, standard, or test.

Here is our favorite part. After a good math circle, children feel like sharing the experience with others. They show their math art to their family, tell math jokes to their friends, or offer their favorite puzzles to classmates. Likewise, parents invite other families for math game nights, math movies, or origami parties. That is how the math circle adventure continues.

Supplies for Beginners and Mobius Noodles families

We do a lot of hands-on modeling with everyday easy supplies. To avoid spending half the time hunting for pesky scissors, please put together a Math Toolbox for your family and have the supplies ready by the computer before the math circle starts. Assembling a treasure box can be a sweet math activity in itself.