When I get my son’s homework list and see the words, “practice addition flashcards for 20 minutes nightly,” I want to scream and rip up the paper. It is not that I think this is not important. As a former classroom teacher, I know how crucial knowing math facts to automaticity is to future success in math. But, flashcards are just boring and usually end in a struggle with my son after just 2 minutes.
When I taught in the classroom, I created this fun dice game to help my students practice their addition facts, and it didn’t involve those the dreaded timed test or drill and kill. My students loved playing this dice game and after 20 minutes, would beg me for more time. Little did they know, they were in fact just practicing their addition facts! Win, win for me!
This game is super easy to play. All you need is:
- A Game Board (you can get yours here)
- Plastic Page protector and dry erase markers OR counters (ie. cheerios, beans, m&ms)
- Two Dice (traditional dice or these large, foam dry-erase dice)
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Using a plastic page protector makes this game so easy to reuse over and over. I put the game board on one side and the directions on the other. A white board marker wipes off easily with your finger or a paper towel.
You can also use counters such as Cheerios, beans or M&Ms to mark off the numbers. This is great for fine motor skills as well as a little snack while you play.
How to Play:
The object of the game is to cross off all the numbers on your side of the game board.
Player 1 rolls two dice, adds the numbers together and crosses off the answer (or covers it) on the game board. Player 2 then rolls the dice, adds the numbers and crosses off the answer.
If a player rolls a number that has already been crossed off, play goes to the next player. You will see that some answers are rolled many times. This means you are reinforcing those math facts!
BONUS:
Get your kids thinking about math!
Ask why the number 1 is not listed on the game board.
Ask why some numbers, like 2 and 12 are harder to roll
I hope you enjoy playing this game with your kids (and practicing their addition facts… wink, wink).
Get your game board at my Etsy Shop!
I have a multiplication fact version for 3rd-5th grade. Click here
I also have numbers game to reinforce number recognition and counting of 1-6. This is great for preschool. Click here
Watch my son and I play this game together on my YouTube channel
