Southern lights
for grown-ups
What's going on
Three flashes under the southern lights:
- Nine, in clumps of three, four and two. Kea says eight, then nine: three, four, two. Rock sees a square of four, and the rest make five.
- Ten, in two rows of five. Kea sees two fives. Rock sees pairs going across.
- Eight, as a clump of six and a pair. Kea sees six and two. Rock sees threes: three, six, and two more.
The maths: the same total made in different ways (3 + 4 + 2 is 4 + 5), and ten as two fives.
These are the pictures in the first play. On a replay each flash is a different number in the same kind of shape, with the stars in new places.
What kids usually do
- Miss by one on the first flash. Loose clumps are harder than rows. Kea misses too, cheerfully, and the check settles it.
- See the clumps as they're drawn, like Kea. Rock's "four and five" means regrouping in your head, which is the interesting part.
- Ask for a longer look. That earns Said "I'm Not Sure", and it's the honest move after half a second.
At dinner
Ask: "Can you see the same group two different ways?"
Peas, buttons, cars in a row. Does the total change? (It never does. That's the surprise worth saying out loud.)
The round celebrates the ways of seeing, never the speed or the right number. This card tells you what's in the sky, so you can play along.
