The best math games with dice are simple and easy to repeat: Roll and Add, Make 10, Race to 100, Place Value Dice and Roll and Multiply. You need two or three dice, paper and a pencil. Play for five to ten minutes, and change the rules as your child's skills grow.
Every roll is a fresh problem, so practice never feels like a worksheet. Children see dot patterns, count, compare and add, and they get a turn to roll, which keeps them involved. Dice luck also means a child can beat a grown-up fairly, which is a big motivator.
There is research behind short number games, too. The What Works Clearinghouse, part of the US Department of Education, reviewed a study by Ramani and Siegler (2008) with 124 Head Start preschoolers aged about 4 to 5. Children who played a simple numbered board game, moving their piece with a spinner, in four 15 to 20 minute sessions over two weeks, did better on number skills such as counting and comparing numbers than children who played the same game with colors. The review found a statistically significant positive effect on math outcomes. That game used a spinner instead of dice, and one study can't promise results for every child, but it supports short, playful number games.
The Ontario Ministry of Education's parent guide also suggests making up adding and subtracting games with number cubes and number cards. It encourages children to use a strategy that makes sense to them, such as counting on from the larger number when keeping score.
Dice: two or three regular six-sided dice. Ten-sided dice (numbered 0 to 9) are handy for place value games.
Paper and pencil or a small whiteboard for keeping score.
A tray, box lid or cup to roll into, so dice stay on the table.
Counters such as buttons, blocks or dry pasta for younger children.
These games build counting and adding within 10. The kindergarten Common Core standards include adding and subtracting within 10 using objects or drawings, and finding the number that makes 10 with any number from 1 to 9.
Roll and Count. Roll one die. Try to say the number by looking at the dot pattern, then check by counting. Take that many counters, or hop that many times.
Roll and Build. Take turns rolling one die and adding that many blocks to your tower. The first tower to reach 20 blocks wins.
More or Less. Each player rolls one die. The bigger number scores a point. Say the sentence: "5 is more than 3."
Roll and Add. Roll two dice and say the total. Show how to start with the bigger number and count on: for 5 and 2, say "5, then 6, 7."
Make 10. Roll one die and say how many more make 10. "I rolled 4. 6 more makes 10." Check with 10 fingers.
Doubles Spotter. Roll two dice. When both match, shout "double!" and say the total. When they are one apart, like 3 and 4, say "double 3 plus 1 is 7."
Roll and Subtract. Roll two dice and take the smaller number from the bigger one. The smallest difference wins the round.
Cross Out. Write the numbers 1 to 9 on paper. Roll two dice and cross out numbers that add up to the total. For a roll of 8, cross out 8, or 5 and 3, or 6 and 2. When you can't make the total, add up the numbers left. Lowest score wins.
Race to 100. The rules are below.
Each player writes 0 at the top of their paper.
On your turn, roll two dice and add them.
Add that sum to your running total and write the new total.
The first player to reach 100 or more wins.
Example turn: your total is 47 and you roll 5 and 6. That's 11. Think 47 + 10 = 57, then 1 more is 58.
Variations: start at 100 and subtract your rolls on the way down to 0. Use three dice for a faster game. For a place value twist, let one die be the tens and the other the ones, so a 3 and a 4 can be added as 34 or 43, and race to 500.
Second grade standards expect children to understand that the digits of a three-digit number stand for hundreds, tens and ones, and to compare three-digit numbers using the symbols >, = and <.
Place Value Dice. Each player draws three boxes labeled H, T and O. Roll one die three times. After each roll, write the digit in one of your boxes. Once a digit is placed, it can't move. Read your number aloud, like "six hundred forty-two." The biggest number wins.
Smallest Number. Same rules, but the smallest number wins. Kids quickly learn to save small digits for the hundreds box.
Closest to 500. Same rules again, but the number closest to 500 wins. This one takes real thinking.
Zero Challenge. Use a ten-sided die so 0 can come up. Talk about what zero means in 706: 7 hundreds, 0 tens and 6 ones.
Roll and Multiply. Each player rolls two dice and multiplies. The bigger product wins. The Ontario guide notes that dice games like this can be played with adding, subtracting or multiplying.
Array Fill. On grid paper, roll two dice and draw a rectangle that size, such as 3 squares by 4 squares. Write the product, 12, inside. Take turns until nobody can fit their rectangle. The player who covered the most squares wins.
Say the math out loud. "You rolled 6 and 5. Six and five make eleven."
Ask how, not just what. "How did you work that out?" helps children notice their own strategies.
Change the game instead of pushing through. Use one die instead of two, or add a third die for a challenge.
Keep it short. Stop while your child still wants one more round.
Keep small dice away from toddlers who still put things in their mouths.
For more ideas, see our guides to math games for kindergarten, number bonds to 10 and math practice at home for kids.
It depends on the game. Dice games can practice counting, recognizing dot patterns, adding and subtracting, pairs that make 10, place value and multiplication facts.
Many preschoolers can roll one die and count the dots. Start with one die and counting games, then add a second die once your child can count on.
Write 1 to 6 on slips of paper and pull them from a cup, or use playing cards from ace to 6. A paper clip spun around a pencil on a drawn circle also works as a spinner.
Take turns rolling two dice, add them, and add the sum to your running total. The first player to reach 100 wins. Play it backward from 100 to practice subtraction.
Dice games work best with a grown-up at the table. For days when your child wants a short practice on their own, Brainy Bucks: Math & Reading offers a daily quest that mixes math, reading and phonics questions, with 5, 10 or 15-minute options, and a wrong answer brings a clue and a second try instead of a red X. It also suggests screen-free parent-and-child activities, has no ads or accounts, and is free to download with optional Brainy Bucks Plus purchases.
Get Brainy Bucks free on the App Store
Ontario Ministry of Education: Doing Mathematics with Your Child, Kindergarten to Grade 6 (PDF)
Common Core State Standards: Kindergarten, Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Common Core State Standards: Grade 2, Number and Operations in Base Ten