The Box — Maths Craft

Are you a maths teacher looking for new ways to bring mathematics to life in the classroom?

Maths Craft in a Box returns! Orders are now closed for the first batch of Boxes for 2024, but we are developing an entirely new Box to be released later this year. Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear about the next batch of Boxes. Maths Craft in a Box is a free, entirely self-contained Box, delivered directly to your school, with everything you and your students need to explore the fascinating world of fractals. It includes enough content to easily fill several lessons, and is ideal for years 7-13.

Two children working on a large Menger sponge at the Auckland Maths Craft Festival (Copy)

Five students and a teacher from Rolleston College with their completed Level 1 Menger sponge (Copy)

Students in a classroom working on a large Level 2 Menger sponge (Copy)

A volunteer helping visitors build Menger sponge sculptures at a Maths Craft event (Copy)

A child working on a large Menger sponge at the Auckland Maths Craft Festival (Copy)

Three students and two teachers from St Thomas of Canterbury College with their completed Level 1 Menger sponge (Copy)

A group of nine students from Burnside High School with their two Level 1 Menger sponges (Copy)

Maths Craft in a Box — is back!

Orders are now closed for our first batch of Boxes for 2024. If you are a maths teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand, you can sign up to our mailing list and be the first to hear about the next round of Boxes. We launched Maths Craft in a Box in August of 2022, and the response was overwhelming. Our first batch of 200 Boxes "sold out" in less than two days!

Register your interest

The Box includes:

Enough craft supplies to make 20 fractal sculptures called Menger sponges. The 20 individual Menger sponges can be combined to make an even bigger single large fractal sculpture!
20 copies of a reusable student Zine (workbook) designed to be a guided introduction to the mathematics of fractals. As well as instructions for building a Menger sponge, the Zine includes guided reflections, exercises, and extensions for your students to work through.
20 copies of a student worksheet with questions from pages 36-38 of the Zine, with space for answers.
A teacher version of the Zine with additional information and answers to exercises.
A brief suggested lesson outline, although you are free to make your own!
Links to online instructional videos designed to accompany the written instructions in the Zines.

Level 1 Menger Sponge — One of the 20 Menger sponges you can build.

Testimonials

Here is some feedback from teachers who have used Maths Craft in a Box in their classrooms.

Quote: Highly engaging task. Ākonga all acknowledged how much they enjoyed the hands-on nature of this task. They all wanted to do more tasks like this.

Quote: My kids are having such an awesome time with this! There's been some really rich conversations about volume and area.

Quote: The Maths Craft team is doing an excellent job to help the teachers and students to be engaged in learning while having fun.

Quote: My students liked the fact that Maths was practical and they were learning as they were going and experiencing.

Quote: The practical nature of Maths Craft in a Box really engaged students who weren't necessarily interested before. So I was quite stoked about that.

Quote: This task was pitched at such a level that all ākonga could engage. My class has learners ranging from level 2 - 5 of NZ Mathematics and Statistics Curriculum.

Quote: Great activity, interesting for kids, engaged many. They were asking to continue working with it through breaks!

Quote: ....the process of building the sponge caught the interest of several kids in my class who are not normally very enthusiastic maths students...

Maths Craft in a Box brings Maths Craft into your maths class

Maths Craft in a Box was created by the mathematicians behind Maths Craft New Zealand, together with an educational researcher who is also a former teacher, and a designer who specialises in science communication. It is the first and only maths box available in Aotearoa New Zealand, and was created to support the vital work of maths teachers across the country.

Have any questions about Maths Craft in a Box?

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Looking for more Maths Craft? Check out our resources.