Win 50

Here's an oldie, but a goodie.

Each player needs a handful of place value blocks, 10s and 1s.  Players will also need a place value mat and a shared set of 2 dice.

First player rolls the dice, adds the sum, and gets that many ones for his board.
Each player gets a turn to do the same.  I ask kids to play in groups of 2 or 3.  Larger groups work, but then the kids spend too much time waiting for a turn instead of using the manipulatives.
On the second turn, some children will have 10 or more in the 1s section of their place value mat.  They must trade 10 ones for a 10s rod any time they have more than 9.
Continue play until one player wins by reaching 50 first.

Place the Value

Place the Value

I made this game years ago.  However, I realize now that we could have played with a deck of cards and saved myself all that time cutting out number cards and creating game boards.

Here's what you need:
playing cards with 10's, jacks, queens, kings and jokers removed.
Math journals or notebook paper for recording sheets
pencils

How to play:
Deal the cards out face down on the table to create a pool for drawing cards.

Children need to draw a large place value chart with labels "hundreds", "tens" and "ones" across the top.  Each column needs to be large enough to hold one playing card.

Draw cards to decide who goes first.  Highest card drawn begins play.

Player 1 chooses a card and places in in one of the place value windows on the chart.  Once placed, the card may not be moved.

Player 2 repeats that action.

Players take turns repeating the draw and place step until both place value charts are completed.

Each player reads his number.  The greater number wins the hand.

Players record a number sentence comparing the results in their math journals, i.e. 253<984.

Advanced Versions:
1.  Players subtract the smaller total from the greater total.  Winner adds the difference to his score.
2.  Players add more places to the place value chart.  Game boards can be created with infinite number of places.  I have boards with windows up to millions place.

Win 25

This week we are practicing building numbers with 10's and 1's.  I have each child keep a baggie of 10's and 1's with their supplies for the year.  At the end of the year, I collect them all and sterilize.

Materials:

Place value blocks (10's and 1's)

Place value mat (with hundreds, tens and ones)

die

1.  Each child needs a place value mat and a bag of tens and ones.  Each team of 2 or 3 needs 1 die.

2.  The first player rolls the die.  He places that many ones in the ones section of his mat.

3.  The next player repeats.

4.  Play continues until one player has 10 or more in the ones place.  That player must trade 10 ones for a 10, which she places in the 10's place.

5.  Continue until one player reaches 25 or higher.

Variations:

This game becomes too easy quickly for some students.  Because there is not much strategy involved, I offer variations to those kids.

1.  The first variation is the same game with 2 dice.  Roll both dice, add them together and get that many cubes.  Make trades when necessary.  Play this game to 50 instead of 25.

2.  Reverse the game.  Begin with a 100's block in the hundreds section.  Roll 2 dice, and subtract the sum from the 100.  The first play of the game can be very challenging.  Take turns and play until one player reaches 0.