Materials:
A large die
Small blocks (at least 20) in a basket
2 players
Instructions: In addition to counting practice, this simple game introduces young children to game-playing etiquette. Show your child the die. If you don’t have a bigger one, you can cover a cube shaped box with paper and make your own dots on each side. A Dollar Store will also likely have dice for children. Any size die will work. It’s just easier to count the dots on an over-sized one.
Show your child how to drop the die on the table. I use a shallow lid from a shoe box to drop the die into, to eliminate picking it up off the floor. Have him count the dots on the top of the die, using his finger to touch each dot as he counts. Take that number of small blocks from the basket and line them up on the table in front of him. Explain to him that now it’s your turn. Drop the die into the box lid, count the dots, also touching them, and take that number of blocks from the basket, lining them up in front of you. Continue taking turns dropping the die, counting, and adding the correct number of blocks to your queue. Decide how many blocks you need to get to win. I’d start with 10 for younger children; maybe 15 or 20 for 5-year-olds. It’s a short game, but a great way to get young children to count, practicing one-to-one correspondence, which they do as they touch the dots and say the number!
Helpful hint: Before you play, let your child explore the blocks. Explain how to make a long “train” of blocks. Can he count the blocks in his train? Let him stack blocks. How high can he build it? If you expose your child to the blocks first, the novelty will wear off a little bit, and he’ll more likely be able to concentrate on the game.
