ABSTRACT
Games and puzzles involving mixed operations provide opportunities for students to further investigate relationships among operations and numbers. Students can gain operational sense. Looking for relationships, patterns, and generalizations helps students build a bridge between arithmetic and algebraic thinking while deepening their conceptual understanding and strengthening or maintaining their procedural skills. Using relational thinking to solve number sentences involves important aspects of mathematical thinking such as equivalence and compensation. The multistep puzzles give students the opportunity to write a mathematical argument for how they found a solution. Playing online games may be beneficial to students who are making a good deal of errors, as the online environment often allows for students to see their errors instantly.
