Detective Math with Invisible Ink
Have you ever seen the way a kids eyes light up when you ask them to be a detective? I’ll admit, I use this technique much too often. It’s losing it’s steam. But when something is lost (especially if it’s something of mine…) we all become detectives. We go all out and get on our gear. Coats, hats, flashlights, finger print kit, etc. Setting the stage increases the excitement.
Then we look for the lost item. Except when we do this, they actually look. Not that randomly walking in circles and humming while they pretend to look for an item. We pretend to be detectives while actually looking for the item.
Suffice it to say, they enjoy detective work. In fact, I’ve yet to meet a kid that didn’t enjoy at least a little bit of detective work. The mysteriousness is exciting!
We found these pens at Barnes and Noble and I knew they had to be bought. How much fun will we have with them?? (The answer – a lot. I already have used them on multiple projects…)
Supplies Needed for Detective Math:
Secret Message Pens
Paper with Equations written (I just used pen and paper)
Next, using the invisible ink, just write in the answers. We couldn’t see the indent left from the pen after writing. The answers were really quite invisible!
I used this for Baloo with multiplication and division. Of course, you can do this with anything! I’m thinking of making a bigger page where he can quickly review a lot of facts quickly and independently.
Give them the pen and have them say the answer out loud. Then they can check if they’re right by using the light! The answer should glow back at them!
We are having a ton of fun with our Detective Math. I’m wondering now how I can incorporate a fingerprint kit…
