Monday Math Game - Dice!

I love dice games to help reinforce math skills and the web is filled with amazing ideas!  Some of my favourites are Stuck in Mud, Mouse and Snake.

Stuck in Mud Dice Game

The object of the game is to score the highest score. You will need five (or more) dice for this game.  The first player rolls all the dice and adds up the numbers.  If a 2 or 5 are rolled, they become stuck in the mud and cannot be counted in your score.

For example, if you throw a 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, your total would be 8 since you cannot count the 2 and the 5.  The dice that rolled a 2 and 5 are taken out of play and the same player continues to roll with the dice that are left.  Keep going until player has lost all of his or her dice.  Second player does the same.  Player with the highest score wins.

Mouse Dice Game

Players have to draw a mouse by rolling a die. Each number of the die is for a certain part of the body.

6 is the body

5 is the nose

4 is the whiskers

3 is the eyes

2 is the ears

1 is the tail

They must roll a 6 to start since everyone has to start with the body.  Taking turns, students roll the die and draw the part accordingly.  If they roll the die and that part has already been drawn they miss their turn and pass the die to the next player.  If younger students may have a difficult time drawing a mouse, they could trace over a picture of one.

Snake

One of the reasons I like this game so much is because it’s a whole class game.  Guided Math has a perfect explanation of this game, along with a free download for the game board!

This next simple game teaches place value and can be played with as many dice as you’d like, depending on the age of your students.

Place Value Dice Game

Depending of the age of your students, you can use 2 or 3 dice (or more). The first player rolls the dice. They then put the digits together to make the highest number they can. For example if they roll a 4 and 5 – the highest number they can make is 54. The other player does the same.  Players play three times, then add up their three numbers. The person with the highest total after three throws is the winner.

Yahtzee is another classic favourite of mine to practice addition facts.  It only requires 5 dice and a piece of paper to keep score. Click here for a FREE score sheet!  There are several ways to play Yahtzee.  The rules to the classic game can be found here.

Sources:

www.ninlazina.info

www.memory-improvement-tips.com
www.guided-math.com 

www.dice.virtuworld.net 

www.ehow.com

www.yahtzee.org.uk