Most adults' attitudes to mathematics come from their experiences of mathematics in school when they were children. Children's mathematical worlds are complex places containing both cognitive and affective elements. One cannot ignore the affective domain if one wishes to understand children's mathematical learning. Teacher education students consistently use the following words in describing their memories of mathematics: repetition, monotony, boredom, not understanding, mystery, failure irrelevance, and humiliation. These memories group into feelings relating to the teaching of mathematics and their personal reaction to themselves as mathematics learners. In this article, the authors remind readers of the importance of helping students to develop positive attitudes to mathematics and provide practical suggestions as to how to engage students in a variety of stimulating activities. (Contains 4 figures.)