Last week, the MathHappens Foundation team traveled to New York City for MATRIX x Imaginary 2026 joining mathematicians, educators, museum professionals, designers, and makers from around the world to celebrate the creativity, collaboration, and wonder of mathematics. From inspiring keynote talks to hands on workshops and interactive activity tables, the conference was a great reminder that mathematics is not just
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One of our favorite parts of sharing MathHappens tools is seeing what educators do with them in their own classrooms. Recently, Stacie Bender, a high school math teacher, reached out to let us know she used our mini unit circle model plans to create a full class set using her school’s laser cutter. From there, she designed two classroom explorations
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Recently, we’ve been bringing balance scales out as part of our math play tables. Our colleague Yana Mohanty noticed that children were drawn to using 21st Century Pattern Blocks with the scales. So this past week, I decided to try that combination at the Children’s Museum of Discovery in Escondido. That day, most of the visitors were 2–4 years old.
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This art piece was a part of a traveling exhibit called Geometry of Hope that came to Austin Texas while I was teaching at ACE Academy. Art teacher Martha Merry and I wanted to collaborate on on art and math field trip. The materials are simple, the connection to the art is authentic and the mathematics is accessible, but also
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MathHappens Foundation was delighted to participate in SXSW EDU 2025 right here in our headquarter city of Austin, TX. The conference provided a stimulating environment for exchanging ideas and fostering valuable connections. We participated this year as an exhibitor, and used the opportunity to recreate a Math Room! Throughout the education conference, our exhibit in the Expo Hall was a
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Origins Bubble Tiles were inspired by a textile pattern in a book by the Japanese artist Hokusai. The design starts with a simple idea: a circle can be divided into six 60-degree arcs, and each arc can be inverted or left unchanged. Together, these combinations create a set of 13 unique tiles (or 14, depending on how you count the
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12 Projects & Endless Hours of Creative, Math-tastic Fun! Check it out. This book was imagined and realized by MathHappens interns Saurav Gandhi and Megan Do. It contains 12 of our favorite topics, beautiful graphics and ideas. We feel really confident it can be a resource for offering math activities in a variety of settings. We are pleased to have
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Jordan Varat is our Laser Operator and Instructor at MathHappens and works with our laser to achieve maximum quality and efficiency of our prints! Here she writes about a technique she uses to create our butterfly puzzle. Our Marjorie Rice Tessellating Pentagons #9 Butterfly Puzzle is one of our more popular puzzles right now, and it also utilizes a wonderful
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science – Pacific Division is a conference we’ve been interested in for several years. In 2024, our colleague Joan Horvath, who we’ve worked with at MakerFaire Los Angeles and other events invited us to participate in her session. Matt Hertel created a presentation to share the math room concept, where we are today
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Maker Pfest was a Success! “I just wanted to thank your group for hosting a booth at this year’s Maker Pfest. They were so friendly and professional with everyone stopped by, and I know they were kept busy the whole time. All the kids who stopped by looked like they were having a bunch of fun. If you all would
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