Mi-box Live: Gamifying maths

Chris Withers, founder of Mi-box Live

At this year’s BUILDING BLOCKS Insights event, hundreds of Year 5 students were met with a burst of energy from Mi-box Live, a game that transforms the way we think about maths - aiming to do for maths what Scrabble does for spelling.

Founded by North East educator and innovator Chris Withers, Mi-box Live was created as a new and innovative way to make maths fun for children and their families.

With support through Newcastle Helix’s National Centre for Ageing (NICA) and funding from Innovate UK, Mi-box Live was developed and brought to market.

Mi-box Live aims to bring the passion and excitement of sport to maths, using a combination of a traditional board game format and accompanying tablet software to encourage children to enjoy solving mathematical problems.

For former teaching assistant and teacher Chris, making learning enjoyable has been a deeply personal mission: “When I was at school in the late 80s, I wasn't very good at reading. 

“When you go to lessons and you're not very good at reading, people will take the mick out of you…sometimes you never get rid of those little scars.”

“I've seen kids over the years come to my class, and I know they're worried if they're not very good at maths, or they're not very good at reading. The last thing you want to do is ask someone to do something if they haven't got the right help in the first place, to give them that confidence.”

Mi-box’s collaboration with the Internet of Caring Things® (IoCT™) programme, part of Newcastle University’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) which is based at the Helix, has helped accelerate the project’s development and impact on the lives of young people. 

Claire Robinson, IoCT™ Relationship Manager, comments: “Chris’s energy and passion is contagious. It’s exciting to work with founders like Chris, who are developing products that could be transformative for all ages, in how they connect and learn.”

Dr Jennine Jonczyk, Internet of Caring Things® Programme Lead at NICA, says, “We’re especially excited about the intergenerational potential of Mi-Box, where families across the generations play together." 

“So many adults had a bad experience with maths at school, so it's also wonderful to think how this game could also change their relationship with maths.”

Following its initial success, Mi-box Live has just launched the latest version of its game, and is working with schools and organisations across the region and beyond to change habits and build confidence.

For Chris, the success and ethos of Mi-box Live is very simple but impactful: “We just made maths a bit of fun by using the power of sport.”