SIMCC Games · Teacher guide
Cage Maths
Fill the grid so each row and column holds every number once and each cage makes its target.
- Trains
- Number facts for +, −, × and ÷ · Logical deduction · Each number once in a row and column
- Ages
- 8 and up
- In class
- On your own. One device each. Choose First steps: a 3 × 3 grid with adding cages, then a 4 × 4 that brings in × and −.
A ten-minute starter
- Show about 2 minDraw a 3 × 3 grid. Every row and column holds 1, 2 and 3 once. Outline two cells as a cage marked 5+. Ask which numbers go in it (2 and 3), then which way round the rows allow.
- Play about 6 minStudents choose First steps and finish both lessons. Anyone who finishes tries Lower Division: 4 × 4 with + and −.
- Talk about 2 minAsk a student to explain one cell they were sure of, and which cage or line told them.
Questions to ask the class
- A two-cell cage says 6×. In a 4 × 4 grid, what can it hold?Listen for: 2 and 3, in either order. 1 × 6 is out because the numbers stop at 4.
- Why does a − cage work in either order?Listen for: It is the larger number minus the smaller one.
- When can a number repeat inside a cage?Listen for: Only when the two cells share no row or column, in an L-shaped cage.
A common mistake
Making a cage's target but repeating a number in a row or column.
How to help: Clashes are marked as soon as they happen. Choosing a cell lists the ways its cage can be made, with the ways the grid rules out crossed through.
Assign it
On the coach dashboard, choose your class under Cohorts. In Assign practice, pick Cage Maths and the drill First steps or Solve the cages, add a due date if you want one, then press Assign. Students find it on their Train page.
Set First steps for a new class, then Solve the cages.
Results show on the dashboard by student and by game once the server has checked them.