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Can Your Tween Girl KenKen?

Published 02.20.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (2)

Tween girls LOVE Sudoku. Will they love KenKen?

A 14-year-old tween girl showed me the way to KenKen - is a little bit like Sudoku, except KenKen is a numerical logic puzzle and requires the BIG M - Math. KenKen means "cleverness squared."

"They" say the rules are simple: Fill the grid with digits so as not to repeat a digit within any row or column, and so the digits within each heavily outlined box (called a cage) go together using the arithmetic operation shown to make the target number indicated.

So far, I'm totally confused, but that makes it very similar to my first reaction to Sudoku. (That was before my tween daughter showed me the way.)

KenKen was invented by the Japanese educator Tetsuya Miyamoto, who founded and teaches at the Miyamoto Math Classroom in Tokyo. Students attend his class on weekends to improve their math and thinking skills. Mr. Miyamoto said he believes in “the art of teaching without teaching.”

I think I could get hooked on KenKen.

Comments (2):

BlapherMJ said:

My 10-year-old loves Sudoku. I'll have to see if she likes KenKen. Thanks!

Posted on February 22, 2009 16:31

Brian said:

Hi,

Yes, Kenken is awesome for teens and others. It is definitely addictive.

I've made some free videos about how to start solving a basic 4x4 Kenken, as well as an advanced 9x9 KenKen in which the operation signs are not given.

You can check them out at:
http://mathmojo.com/kenken

Posted on May 19, 2009 21:17





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Mom: "What happened in school today?" Daughter: "Nothing." Mom: "Really, nothing happened?" Daughter: "Yep, nothing."

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