Variations for K & up
**Create your own game based on your own goals and skills.**
1st-6th
**The same board can be used with different sets of number tiles for addition or multiplication.** https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BSzN98d3j5rqxjrlK8fSQj7sNqHsJ5VJ
- Game Prep: Print out the provided game board and print and cut out the game tiles (preferably on card stock or construction paper).
Source: https://craftingagreenworld.com/
Number Recognition; Forward/Backward Counting; Addition Facts; Multiplication Facts (very modified!)
*If you do not have a snakes and ladders game board, you can find many options as free printables online.
Basic Rules:
Modifications:
What other modifications can you create?
Number Recognition; Sequencing; Skip Counting; Addition
Need: 1 deck of cards for 2-3 players. Add another deck for each additional 2 people.
Basic Rules:
Modifications:
What other modifications can you create?
Money, Addition, Multiplication, Estimation
Need: 6-sided dice, pencil/paper, pennies/nickels/dimes (optional)
Goal: Be the person to get the closest to $1 without going over.
Basic Rules:
Modifications:
What other modifications can you create?
Source: https://mathforlove.com
Probability, Addition
Target year levels: Any- the older the student, the more advanced the discussion re probability and their decisions will be.
Equipment: 6 sided dice, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing:
“Why did you decide to stop when you did?/ Why did you decide to keep going?”
“Do the numbers you roll influence your decision on when to stop or not? Explain why/why not.”
“What is the chance of rolling a 2?”
“What would you do differently next time you play?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Concepts covered: Multiplication and division
Target year levels: Year 3-6
Equipment: Playing board (can download using link below), counters or tokens https://illuminations.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Content/Lessons/Resources/6-8/Product-OH-GameBoard.pdf
Good questions to ask while playing:
“Why did you choose to make __?”
“Why didn’t you make __? That seems like it would have helped you?”
“Explain to me how you got __?”
“What would you do differently the next time you played?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Addition/Subtraction; Multiplication/Division
3 people, deck of cards - face cards removed.
Rules:
Target year levels: Foundation - Year 3
Equipment: Deck of playing cards, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What’s the other number you can make?” (When kids start playing, they may only focus on what they can make by adding the two cards and fail to consider the subtraction option.)
“Explain to me how you got __?”
“Do you think it is better to add or subtract the two numbers? Why?”
“Is it a good idea to place lots of tokens on the one square? Why/why not?”
“What would you do differently next time you played?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Choose the multiplication facts you want to work on. Make a deck of 40 cards with index cards by writing the 1st ten multiples out and do this 4 times. For example, 4, 8, 12, all the way to 40.
Source: https://www.mathrecovery.org/resources/math-recovery/how-to-play-quick-draw
Teaching Number in the Classroom with 4-8-Year-Olds, Dr. Wright et al
Chapter 10, IA10.3, pp. 194
Ways to play without a game board:
What other ways can you make a game board? Show me your pictures!
Concepts covered: Addition
Target year levels: Years 1-4
Equipment: Deck of cards
Good questions to ask while playing:
“Why did you choose that card?”
“Why didn’t you choose the __ card?”
“How can we organize our cards so they will easier to add up at the end?” (This might lead to kids placing them in pairs that make ten, or finding pairs of cards that they can easily double, etc.)
“What would you do differently next time you play?”
Shout-out to Paul Swan for teaching me the original version of this game.
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Materials: 6 dice, paper and pencil for each person
Game Play
End of the Game
When a player's accumulated score is 10,000 or more, each player has one last turn to beat that total.
The player with the highest score wins.
Concepts covered: Place value, ordering numbers, chance/probability
Target year levels: 1-4
Equipment: 2 x 0-9 dice (or deck of playing cards), paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What numbers can you make?”
“How do you know that goes there?”
“What numbers might go between these two pebbles?”
“What are you hoping to roll? Why?” (This is especially good to use if you get students to roll the dice one at a time)
“What would you do differently next time you play?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Topics: probability, strategy, addition, estimation
Materials: One 6-sided die, pencil and paper
Roll the dice and collect points. You can go as long as you want, but roll the wrong number and you lose all your points from that turn!
Variations:
Big Pig
This variation is played with two dice. It is like Pig: on your turn you can roll or hold. If you roll a 1, you lose your points for that turn and your turn ends. However, you roll a pair of 1s, add 25 to your turn total. If other doubles are rolled, the player adds twice the value of the dice to the turn total. Play to 150.
Odd Pig Out
Roll two dice and multiply them. You can keep rolling as long as the product is even. If the product is odd, you lose all unbanked points for that turn, and pass the dice. Play to 500.
Questions
There are several central questions in Pig:
Good questions for the teacher to ask the students:
Possible student conjectures, true and false, that may arise:
Common strategies:
Concepts covered: Addition
Target year levels: Foundation - Year 3
Equipment: Deck of cards
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What card are you hoping to turn over next?”
“What goes with __ to make ten?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Concepts covered: Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Target year levels:
Year 1 - 2 (use numbers 1-20)
Year 3-4 (numbers 10-50)
Years 5-6 (numbers 20-80)
Equipment: deck of cards, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What other number could you make?’
“Explain to me how you got __?”
“What if you use multiplication (or subtraction etc.)?” (I.e. offer suggestions when students need help but DON’T tell them how to arrive at a number.)
Shout-out to Nash Minas for inventing this game.
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X7K1JHtMkhHLjRkSwNY1z1C0PzuJtipY/view
Concepts covered: Addition and subtraction
Target year levels: Foundation - Year 4
Equipment: Paper, pencils and counters (or any suitable substitute)
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What goes with __ to make 30?”
““How did you work that pair out?”
Shout-out to Alistair McIntosh and Shelley Dole who created this game.
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Concepts covered: Addition and subtraction
Target year levels: Foundation - Year 4
Equipment: Deck of cards
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What are you hoping to roll?”
“How did you work that out?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Concepts covered: Addition and subtraction
Target year levels: Years 2-5
Equipment: Deck of cards, paper and pencil
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What goes with __ to make 100?”
“What if you changed the first number to __?”
“Why did you change the first number to __?”
“What would you do differently next time you play?”
Shout-out to James Russo for creating this game.
Mental math
Supplies: One 10 sided dice or spinner. Score sheet
Play:
1. Players, take turns rolling a dice or spinning a spinner. On each roll, the player decides before rolling if they will multiply by 1, 10, or 100.
2. Each player adds their product to their own accumulating score.
3. If the product will push them over 1,000, the player loses their turn.
4. The winner is the first person to get to 1,000 exactly.
Variations:
- Multiply by 2, 20, or 50.
- Multiply by 2-10 and try to get to 100.
- Multiply by 20-90 (multiples of 10) or 1-9 (not 10 or 100).
- Subtract from 1,000 (or 100) instead of adding to 1,000.
Source: Developing Number Sense. Bresser & Holtzman
Concepts covered: Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Target year levels: Year 2- 6
Equipment: set of dominoes
Good questions to ask while playing:
“What number are you trying to make now?’
“Explain to me how you got __?”
“What if you use multiplication (or subtraction etc.?” (I.e. offer suggestions when students need help but DON’T tell them how to arrive at a number.)
“What if you tried that domino?”
Shout-out to Paul Swan for introducing this game to me.
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games
Concepts covered: Probability, ordering numbers
Target year levels: Foundation - Year 3
Equipment: Deck of cards, counters (20 per player)
Good questions to ask while playing:
“How many chances have you got of getting a card in-between __ and __? How many chances have you got of not getting a card in between?”
“Can you describe your chance of getting an in-between card? Why?”
“Why did you choose to play __ counters?”
“What would you do differently next time you play?”
Source: https://www.lovemaths.me/games