It goes without saying that learning is a much better experience if you can incorporate fun into the teaching process.
When it comes to math, technology and science (among other subjects), there are plenty of ways you can get dice games involved to inspire your students.
When you do this in the right way, various scenarios can help to promote learning, whilst also adding an element of friendly competition to the mix. Luckily, you do not need to look too far to find them.
That’s because we’ve written this handy list which shows you lots of different ways you can incorporate dice games into your teaching, which should help to boost the learning process for your students.
So, if you’re ready to learn more – then read on for much more information and plenty of ideas!
Fun And Educational Dice Games
Without any more delays, let’s dive right into this list. We’re sure you’ll find some of your next favorite lesson games!
1. Roll And Count
It’s always a good idea to start with the basics, especially when it comes to younger kids. All you need to do is tell your students to roll the dice, and then get them to count the number of dots that appear on the dice.
You can use the scaffolding technique here to help improve their learning. You can do this by adding more dice in a controlled way every time they are highly advanced with their counting skills.
Of course, when it is going very well, you can start to incorporate multiplication techniques and even put kids against each other to see who can work their numbers out the fastest!
2. Jumping Frogs
This is a very interactive game and you start by getting your students to make their own “ponds” with board game spaces and toy frogs. When each child rolls the dice, they count the number of spots on the dice and move their frog that number of spaces.
The idea is to get the frogs into the pond, and the first one to roll enough numbers to the pond wins the game!
3. QWIXX
This is a family friendly game that involves the use of dice. With every action you make, you could be moving one step closer to victory – or you could be hindering your chances to the winning title.
4. Add With Apples
Sometimes, one of the best ways to learn is through visualization – and this game is one of the best ways you can do this.
The apple tree game gets kids to work out how to put two or more numbers together, and work to fill in the tree with the answers.
5. Roll, Sum, Say And Spray
This is one of the most fun games that will get young students raring to go and totally fired up. To play this game, you need to have a spray bottle filled with water, some chalk and some dice.
Prepare before the game by writing numbers 1 through 6 on the ground. Kids must roll the dice and then go out and find the number. Once they have found the number, they must spray it until it disappears.
6. Count With The Ladybug
This experience is great for younger learners because it brings together a whole host of different stimuli, such as color, textures, skills and sensations. To play this game, you need some Playdough and make your own ladybug.
Build the ladybug up by rolling two dice and add to the ladybug’s wings and back!
7. The Rainbow Board Game
If you’re hoping for something more fun, active and personalized, then look at this board game. You and your students build this game up by creating your own game board and then add your own rule cards to it.
For example, if someone rolls a 5 – then everybody must hop on one leg. You can add math questions into this by using the dice too.
8. Create Cup Towers
One of the best parts about this game is the fact that you can tailor it to a number of different abilities and ages. The game is about number matching and you will need at least 12 different plastic or foam cups.
Write the numbers 1 to 6 on them and whatever you roll, you add to the cup tower. As we said, you can make this more complex with more dice and more cups.
9. Sort The Farm Animals
A lot of kids like farm animals, and a lot of them like toys – so why not make a dice game with farm animal toys? Design your own farm layout with a big sheet of white paper and some felt markers and then get some farm animals toys and some dice.
The students move around the farm animals based on the dice number that they roll. It’s simple but an effective way to learn counting!
10. Plant Flowers
This is a nature-based game that involves kids using Playdough or fake flowers. All they need to do is roll the dice and that’s the number of flowers that they need to plant! It’s basic and effective.
11. Color In The Train
If you have ever seen “paint by numbers”, this is exactly the same concept. Essentially, you need to print out a picture of a train with numbers 1-6 across the picture. You will prepare by working out what colors correspond to what number.
The children then need to roll the dice and color in the number they have rolled. For example, red might be number 5 and they need to color in all the number 5s on the picture in red.
12. Roll For Chips
Here’s a game that you play in rounds. Every player must roll for a chance to take the other players’ chips (you can substitute chips with something like candy if you wish to).
Higher rolled numbers mean more chips are taken, and the winner is the player with the most chips after 5 rounds. The winner can eat the chips if you have substituted them for candy!
13. Race To 10
There is a slight issue with this game that you need 20 dice to play.
However, if you have this, then you’ll love to get involved with this game. The idea is to roll 10 sixes in a row, and it gets kids and adults obsessed about the game of chance!
14. Dungeons And Dragons
We cannot have a list of dice games without including perhaps the most famous dice game of all time.
It’s not the best game for the very young, but it’s a game that gets people of many ages involved and interested for hours.
15. Colored Dice (Tailored Learning)
This game is highly versatile. Essentially, you get your students a few colored dice and allow them to dictate what each color represents.
This could be a word, number or subject. Whatever you want to teach, you can do it through this game.
16. Threes
This game is somewhat of a spin on the dominoes rule of threes. It involves players rolling 5 dice in a beaker and trying to get multiple of 3s.
If a player rolls five 3s, they get extra points. Once again, you can tailor this game to your own rules and stipulations.
17. Run For It
A family favorite game now. It’s about finding patterns and sequences, and you need 6 players and 6 dice for the game to be played at its maximum potential – but you can play it with just 2 people.
Every player takes their turn by rolling 6 dice and then they try to find a pattern or sequence in the numbers. Every run the player finds, they earn five points – and the winner is the first player to reach fifty points.
18. Bowl The Dice
This game is very unique and somewhat strange, but it’s certainly one that has a lot of fun in it. Many bowling concepts are involved like gutter ball, scratch and strike, but the game is more complex than simply knocking down pins.
Each roll means something different but the overall goal is to attain 10 points, or at least the closest to 10 using 3 dice. The winner is established after 10 rounds.
19. Roll The Dice For Candy!
Here’s another dice game that involves the favorite candies that kids love. Each player starts the game with 5 pieces of candy, and the table has a lot more on it.
Every number that the player rolls, they collect an extra piece of candy OR they must do something else.
For example, a 6 can be to pick up a piece of candy, but a 4 might be to answer a math problem.
20. Stuck In The Mud
This game is pretty simple. You roll the dice but the aim is to avoid rolling a 5. The players must tally up their points without a 5 rolled, but any 5s that are rolled means either 0 points or minus points, depending on how difficult you would like the game to be.
The winner is the player to reach 50 points first – and while that sounds pretty easy, it’s much more difficult than you might think!
21. Head Full Of Numbers
This game has been around for a while and it’s a family favorite.
It’s a super fun board game designed to help kids learn math problems, so it’s a great way to make math fun! You can find this board game in plenty of stores and you can find it online.
22. Poker With Dice And Candy
Another pretty simple game here. The aim is to roll the best “hand” like you would have in poker, but you are using candy as poker chips. You may decide to gamble for different numbers with an extra dice roll!
23. Speed 50
A lot of people might find this game a bit tedious, so it’s more for older kids. But the aim is pretty simple. You’re trying to roll a 6, and the person who starts with the pen must write the number of rolls until a 6 is rolled.
The aim is to roll a 6 faster than the person to the right of you. The winner is the person to roll the most 6s with fewer rolls after 5 rounds.
24. Ones
This is a spin on the threes game we mentioned earlier. The rules are exactly the same, but instead of multiples of 3, you’re hoping for multiples of one. There are other takes on this game, but that’s the most simple.
25. Roll Or Forfeit?
Finally, we have a game that can be adapted for a number of different students or even at parties. The aim is to be the first player to reach 50 points, but you cannot roll a 3. With each round, a player can roll as many times as they like.
However, for every 3 that they roll, they must do a forfeit (like answer a question, do a math problem etc). So, some players might play it safe and decide to only throw once. If they fail their forfeit, they receive a 10 point deduction.
The Bottom Line
Dice games can be really fun and they’re extremely versatile when it comes to learning.
As we have seen with our list above, there’s plenty of ways that you can incorporate dice into learning and help to improve the teaching experience! Good luck!
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