This is one of our favourite numeracy activities. I’m sure it’s referenced elsewhere on the internet, but this is the version that we use. Enjoy!

Purpose

• Practice addition, subtraction and think about probability.

Equipment

• Blank paper and pen (per student/pair)
• One standard six-sided dice per pair of students.

Object

• To obtain a higher sum of numbers than their competitor.

Rules

• ŸLearners are asked to each draw a game board (illustrated below).
• Pair decides who will throw the dice first.
• First learner throws the dice and records the number on their game board. 
• The first learner throws the dice again and records the number on their game board. 
• The first learner then decides if they want to throw a third time or stop (the first two throws are compulsory).
• From this point on, if the learner decides to continue rolling a dice, if a 2 is thrown, they lose and get a score of 0 for that round. The learner can throw as many times as they like so long as they DO NOT roll a 2.
• Once the learner has made the decision to stop rolling, they add up the numbers which were rolled, e.g. 2+5+3 = 10
• The second learner must try to get to a number that is higher than what their partner rolled.  The same rules apply.  After the initial two throws of the dice, should the number 2 be thrown, the player is eliminated and gets a 0 score for the round and the other person wins.
• ŸThe game is best out of 4 rounds so each learner has the opportunity to be the first person to roll the dice on two occasions.
• Learners could be asked to add the sum of the four rounds to determine which learner in the class made the highest cumulative score for the four rounds.

Example game board with scoring

Blank game board