The Mathematician's Tower!

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You will need about 10 blocks for this activity--wooden, plastic, or sugar--or make your own fun cubes by cutting sponges, foam slabs or styrofoam. Blocks can also be made by folding paper or cardboard, following the diagram on the side of the screen. Print the numbers from 0 to 20 on the sides of the cubes (or label them with stickers or masking tape). Any cube can form the base of the tower and be the first one placed on top of it. From then on, however, all blocks must adhere to a rule. The top number shown on the next block must be equal to the addition or subtraction of the two previous blocks. If a number needed is not on any of the blocks left, you may want to begin again, seeing how high you can make your Mathematician's Tower. To play this with friends, distribute the cubes evenly between the players. Taking turns, the blocks are placed according to the above pattern. If a player does not have a required number on any of his blocks, he forfeits his turn. The player who uses all of his blocks first, wins!