If you have a pair of dice, then you are set for the following learning activities. I love using dice because children automatically relate dice with playing games and having fun.
There are many outstanding math games to play with dice. You can play an addition game by rolling two dice and adding up the total. The first player to one hundred wins. You can later add a third die to practice adding three numbers. You can play a multiplication game by rolling two dice, multiplying them to get your product, and adding up the total. Remember to have your child keep score with tally marks since children often do not get a lot of practice with this concept.
"Circles and Stars" is the best game I have used with children who are beginning to learn multiplication. Roll one die and make that many circles on your paper. Roll another die and make that many stars on the inside of each circle. Write out the multiplication sentence to go with that problem. Have your child count the stars in each circle for the total. For example, two circles with three stars in each circle equals six stars. (2 x 3 = 6) Take turns rolling the dice and illustrating the number sentences. Have your child add all the products (total amount of stars) each person has with a calculator to see who wins.
2 x 3 = 6
If your child takes a long time drawing stars, you can use small star stickers or substitute Xs for stars, and rename the game “Xs and Os.” There are a variety of dice you can purchase to add some spice to your dice. There are large dice, foam dice, colored dice, fuzzy dice, and dice that have many more sides than the average die.
I recently found a dice game on-line to practice addition and multiplication facts- it's so cool! CLICK HERE to play.
Here is a video clip on playing games with dice.
Enjoy!
