Dice Addition Game with Number Sticks

If you've got a preschooler learning number bonds, this game is super easy to like.  And if you're a busy mama, this game is super easy to DIY even if you don't have number sticks!

This idea is a DIY-version of another DIY-version.  See this video by Education Unboxed where she also explains how to adapt this for higher elementary problem solving.  I set this up in less than five minutes before we started playing, so I only got a chance to take a photo in the middle of game play. 

We used stuff we had around.  A piece of cloth, our number magnets, a pair of dice and 2 sets of stickers.  I always say it's easy to think of play when you've got stuff around!

Line up the numbers from 2 to 12.  The point is for each player to be able to mark all the numbers with her stickers.  And you can only do this by rolling the dice!

This is great number bond practice.  We only did addition here, but you can do addition or subtraction if you want to make things more challenging.  Here she rolled a 5 and a 4, and she's putting a sticker under the 9.  If she was doing subtraction, she could put a sticker under the 1.

We always keep the number sticks handy in case certain number bond families stump her.  Here she is figuring out that 6 + 2 = 8 using the sticks:

I slipped in some number bonds of 12 practice.  Because when she threw a 6 + 6 there was a lot of rejoicing.  Naturally when I asked "what other number bonds can make a 12?" using the number sticks was a natural way to let her figure it out for herself:

 She won, by the way.  Fair and square.

Now, time for bed.

I can't believe these pictures were a full year ago!  Obviously still a lot of posts to share how we use the number sticks as a staple in our playroom shelf.

Still amazed with these things, and making slow friends with math myself.  

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