Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Number Chase

K is at a point in her math learning where I felt the need to take a break from our curriculum and focus on basic addition and subtraction facts for a while. I don't want her to memorize them per se, but I do want her to become so familiar with them that they become automatic to her. (This is a distinction I believe most people don't make in learning, but there is a difference.)



The most enjoyable way to encourage this type of learning is through games. Many card games and any board game that uses two dice can be used to become more familiar with addition facts, and we have been playing quite a variety. For a slightly more intense focus on addition, though, I came up with a game we call "Number Chase". Inspired by this post from The Activity Mom, I created a simple game board. With two dice for each player and "squeezy paints" in hand (see this post), we were ready to go!


We took turns rolling the dice, adding up the numbers, and "dotting" a circle next to the resulting number. My idea was to take it slowly at first and just play until one number "won". I didn't want K to burn out on it, you know? Ha! I guess when you hear, "Can't we keep going, Mom? Pleeeeeease? I want to get a blackout!" you can confidently say your game is a success.

Does this look like a kid who has just been practicing addition facts for the past 45 minutes? We will definitely be adding this to K's workbox on a regular basis.

3 comments:

The Activity Mom said...

Hooray! I'm glad it was a hit! We just got some of those dot painters. We will have to give it a try with those.

Amanda said...

It's funny that you called it Blackout, because that's exactly what I called it in my classroom!! I love the look of your board. Just remember that you can use it for multiplication and order of operations when they're older. It never seems to loose it's appeal.

Thanks for the note!

Tarasine (pronounced Tara-seena, in case you were wondering) said...

It strikes me as a good "experiment" for probability, too--seeing which numbers get rolled most often and why. Amazing how much you can do with such a simple tool! Thanks again, ladies!