Domino Games
Domino War
This is a game for two people. 1. Place all the dominoes face down. 2. Each person places their hand on a domino. 3. At the same time, flip the domino over and whisper the sum of the two numbers ( example - 2 dots and 4 dots would be a sum of 6) 4. The person who whispers the correct answer first wins both dominoes. The person with the most dominoes wins.
Variation - This came can also be played by multiplying each side of a domino.
Race to 100
For this game, you will need either scratch paper and a pencil or a whiteboard with an expo marker.
Here's how to play: 1. Students place all dominoes face down. 2. Each student flips a domino and multiplies the two sides together. 3. Then he/she writes down the total to keep a running total. 4. Players continue to flip dominoes at the same time and each player multiplies the domino sides and add its total to the former totals. 5. The first person to reach 100 wins!
Variation - Students can add the dominoes and make it a Race to 50. To make it more challenging, students can flip two dominoes at a time, multiply their sums, and make it a Race to 500. Another variation which includes subtraction practice is called Countdown to Zero! Students each start with 100. The domino is multiplied as before and is then subtracted from the running total until the player reaches zero and is the winner.
Choose Three
For this game, students need either scratch paper and a pencil or a whiteboard with an expo marker.
Here's how to play: 1. Place all dominoes face down. Students choose three dominoes. 2. First they add the sides together for each domino (for example, a 5 and a 6 would be 11). 3. After finding the sums of each of the three dominoes, then add all three dominoes totals together for a grand total. 4. The person with the smaller sum gets to keep the dominoes.
Variations - Choose Five would be the same process but students would flip over 5 dominoes to make the adding more challenging. Another variation would be to multiply the sides and then add together for the grand total.
Rounding Game
For this game, students need either scratch paper and a pencil or a whiteboard with an expo marker to write rounded numbers.
Since each domino has two spaces, the place values will be set, depending upon how many dominoes are used. If students use one domino, they will be rounding to the tens place. If two dominoes are used, students may round to the tens, hundreds, or thousands place. Using two dominoes, you can tell students which place to round or if they are able, you can tell them to round to the tens for the first three games, the hundreds for the second three games, and the thousands for the third three sets of games.
Here's how to play: 1. Students place all dominoes face down. 2. For a simple game to round to tens, students flip over one domino. They can decide which way the domino is facing (for example a 3 and a 6 could be 36 or 63). 3. Students round their numbers, write it down (so they remember it and can refer to it) and tell their partners their answer (for example, 36 rounds to 40). Students decide if More/Less will determine the winner.
Dice Games
Pig
Players: 2 Materials: 1 or 2 dice, 120 chart (optional)
Object: Be the first player to reach 100
One Die Version: On a turn, a player can roll repeatedly until one of two things happens (1) the player rolls a 1 or (2) the player chooses to hold (stop rolling). Each number rolled is added to the player’s total. If a 1 is rolled, all points for that turn are lost!
Scoring examples: 1. Suzy rolls a 4 and decides to continue. She then rolls 5 more times (3, 4, 2, 6, 1). Because she rolled a 1, her turn ends and she receives no points for the numbers rolled. 2. Marcus rolls a 6 and decides to continue. He rolls 3 more times (4, 3, 5) and decides to hold. His score for the round is 18 (6 + 4 + 3 + 5 = 18).
Two Dice Version: Two dice are rolled. If a single 1 is rolled on either dice, the turn ends and all points are lost. If two 1s are rolled on a single turn, the player scores 25 points. Doubles, for example a 2 and a 2, are worth double points (4 x 2 = 8).
Closest To 100
Players: 2 Materials: 2 dice, scratch paper for keeping score
Object: Score as close to 100 as possible after 5 rounds
How to Play: 1. Roll two dice and create a 2-digit number. For example, if a 3 and 5 are rolled, you can make 35 or 53. 2. Mentally calculate the difference between the 2-digit number and 100. One way to find the difference is to count up. For example, if the number rolled is 53, count up by 10s and then add the 1s needed to get to 100.
Scoring: Play 5 rounds. For each round, players calculate their score as the difference from 100. The player with a score closet to 100 after 5 rounds wins. This introduces the element of strategy as players decide how to combine their numbers rolled to create a difference that gets their total score as close to 100 as possible!
Cross Out
Players: 2 Materials: 2 dice, scratch paper
Object: Have the smallest score
How to Play: 1. Players each write the digits from 1 to 9 on a piece of paper. 2. Alternate turns. On a turn, a player rolls two dice, adds the numbers together, and crosses off one number or a combination of numbers to equal the sum of the numbers rolled. Example: A player rolls a 4 and a 5, for a sum of 9. On their board, they can cross out any combination of numbers that equal 9, such as 3 + 6, 1 + 2 + 6, 4 + 5, 9, 4 + 3 + 2, etc. 3. Play continues. When a player rolls a sum that can’t be crossed out, they are done rolling for the round. The other player continues to roll and cross out until they can no longer cross out a sum. 4. When both players have reached the point that they can no longer cross out a sum, each player adds the uncovered digits on their boards and the smallest sum wins.
Odd Squad
Players: 2 Materials: 2 dice, scratch paper
Object: Have the largest score after 5 rounds
How to Play: 1. Alternate turns. On a turn, a player rolls both dice. If the number rolled is even, it is used at face value. If the number rolled is odd, it is multiplied by 10. Both numbers are then multiplied together, and the product is the player’s score for that round. Examples: A player rolls a 2 and a 3. The 2, which is even, is used at face value. The 3, which is odd, is multiplied by 10 to get 30. The player then multiplies 2 x 30 for a total of 60 on the round. A player rolls a 3 and a 5. The player would multiply 30 x 50 for a total of 1,500 for the round. A player rolls a 4 and a 4. The player would multiply 4 x 4 for a 16 on the round. 2. Play continues for 5 rounds, and the player with the highest score wins.
Variation: Play by multiplying even numbers by 10 and odd numbers by 100
Card Games
Give Me 10
Players: 2
Materials: Deck of cards with the face cards removed, Ace worth one
How to Play: Deal 12 cards face up.
Players take turns finding and removing combinations of cards that add up to 10.
When both the players agree that no more tens are possible, the next 12 cards are dealt face up.
Builder’s Paradise - Number Sequencing
Players: 2-4
Materials: Deck of cards with the face cards removed
How to Play: Shuffle the cards and deal them out equally among all the players
Start by making a row of the 7 cards.
Players take turns putting cards above or below a 7 in sequence according to their suit. (For example, in the first round only 6 and 8 cards can be played.)
If a player cannot play anything, they pass that turn. If no one that round can play a card, the game is over and the player with the fewest cards wins.
Make 10 Players: 2+ Materials: Deck of playing cards with face cards removed How to Play: 1. Place the deck face down on the table. 2. Each player chooses 5 cards and places the cards in front of him. 3. The first player uses the 5 cards to create as many equations as he can in which the sum equals ten. For example, If I have 9, 9, 3, 2, 4, I could make the following equations: 9+4-3=10 and 4. 9+3-2=10 5. After making as many equations as possible, player sets aside the used cards and play passes to the next player. 6. Play continues with players refilling their hands to 5 cards at the start of each turn. 7. Whoever uses the most cards by the end of the deck wins.
Pyramid
Players: 1-2 (can be played alone like Solitaire, or with a partner)
Materials: Deck of cards with face cards removed (keep the Ace cards as they represent 1)
How to Play: Shuffle the cards well. Then arrange your cards into a Pyramid with 6 rows, as shown below, with each row slightly overlapping the previous row.
Place remaining cards in a deck, face down, off to the side. The goal is to remove cards in the pyramid by “making ten” with two cards. (Or removing a ten card, as it is already equal to ten). However, you can only remove cards that are completely uncovered. Therefore, at the start of the game, you can only use the bottom row of the pyramid to make ten.
So for example, in the game shown above, I was able to remove a nine and an ace to make ten. When there are not two cards that can make 10, draw cards from the pile and try to make a match.
Spiral
Players: 2+
Materials: deck of playing cards, game piece (coin, block, etc), 1 or 2 dice
Start with a complete deck of cards, as well as 1-2 dice and game pieces for each player. Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12 and King = 13. You may want to have an index card with these values written down for their reference so they don’t have to remember or try to figure it out.
To begin, build a spiral out of the entire deck of cards, as shown in the picture below. This will serve as your game board. You can use the same board for multiple games, or create a new board each time to change it up.
Each player then places their game piece at start (the center of the spiral).
To start, the first player rolls a die and moves that number of cards on the game board. They must then multiply the number on their die with the value of the card they landed on. If they solve it correctly, they stay there, otherwise they go back to their previous position.
Players then take turns rolling and moving around the game board.
If a player lands on a card with another player on it, they “bump” that player back to start.
If a player lands on a “double,” meaning the number on their die and the value of their card is the same, they get to go again.
The first player to land exactly on the last card and correctly solve the multiplication problem wins!