Math Game Mania!

We've been playing lots of Math Games to practice recognizing, counting, and writing our numbers. Here are some games we've learned in class that you can play with your family at home:

Monster Squeeze

In this game, we put a number line on our white board with numbers 1-10 and had two sticky notes on either side of the number line. Each of the giraffes took turns thinking of a number in their brain as the other giraffes tried to guess that number. If the other giraffes guessed the wrong number, the person thinking of the number would give everyone else a clue by saying whether their number was greater than or less than the number in their brain. We would then move the sticky note over so we knew it could only be one of the numbers between the sticky notes. Once someone correctly guesses the number, it becomes their turn to think of a number!

*For example, if the number was 5, and someone guessed 6, the person thinking of the number would tell us it was less than 6, and we would move one of the sticky notes so we could see it had to be a number between 1 and 5. If they guessed it was 3, the person would say it was greater than 3 and move the other sticky note so we could see it had to be either 4 or 5. You could play this game at home with a number line or even with number cards and you could take away cards when the person thinking of the numbers gave their clues!*

Tenzi

In this game, each giraffe had the same number of dice (we've been playing with 5 dice each), and their goal was to roll their dice until they all showed the same number. After their first roll, the giraffes would look at their dice to see if any of them were showing the same number, and then they would leave those dice that were already showing the same number and pick up those that weren't. They would continue rolling their dice until all of them were showing the same number. Once all of someone's dice are showing the same number, that person shouts "TENZI!" and they win that round. 

*For example, if a giraffe rolled five dice and two of those dice showed the number 3, they would pick up their other three dice until they showed the number 3 as well. Every time one of the dice was a 3, they could leave that die and continue rolling the rest until they too showed the number 3. Once you play this game a few times, you can change the goal of the game to different things too--if everyone is rolling 6 dice, they could keep rolling until they get all numbers 1-6, or maybe they have to get 3 of one number and 3 of another, or EVERYONE has to roll the same number! 

Dominoes

While we've had a lot of fun building with dominoes, we've also had a lot of fun learning to play the game! To play, everyone divides the dominoes equally between all the players and one person puts down a domino. The person next to them has to find a domino that matches one of the sides of that domino. Everyone continues to take turns finding places to connect their dominoes, and the first person to get rid of all their dominoes wins! 

For this game, you don't need any materials at all! All you need to do is take turns counting by 1s, saying 4 numbers at a time. If you count correctly with, your partner gives you a thumbs up, if you try to trick them and you don't count in order, they say "GOTCHA!" You can practice counting by 1s wherever your giraffe feels most comfortable--1-5, 1-10, 1-20--some giraffes were even counting 1-100! 

This is another game you can play without any materials at home. For this game, everyone playing stands in a circle and you choose a number to start and end at (for example, 1-5). Everyone goes around in the circle counting one by one until someone reaches the end number. Once someone says the end number, the next person says "Sparkle!" and the person next to them sits down. If someone says the wrong number, they will also have to sit down. You continue to play until there is only one person standing.

We've had so much fun learning these games at school, and we hope you'll try them out at home as well!