4 Corners
Concepts covered: Probability (also links to fractions/decimals/percentages when played with older students)
Equipment: Deck of cards, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Where are you going to stand now? Why?”; “What’s the chance of getting a heart/spade etc.?”
Shout-out to Rob Vingerhoets for teaching me this game.
100 or Bust
Concepts covered: Probability, addition
Equipment: Six-sided dice, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to use that roll for a ten/one?”; “What are you hoping to get on the next roll? Why?”; “What is the chance of rolling a 2?”; “What would you do differently next time you play?”
Barrier Game- 2D Shapes
Concepts covered: Location, transformation, two-dimensional shapes
Equipment: Hardcover book, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “What words do you think will be helpful for this activity?” (This is a great question to ask prior to playing.); “Can you say that again another way?”; '“What would you do differently next time you played?”
Greedy Pig
Concepts covered: Probability, addition
Equipment: Six-sided dice, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to stop when you did?/ Why did you decide to keep going?”; “Do the numbers you roll influence your decision on when to stop or not? Explain why/why not.”; “What is the chance of rolling a 2?”; “What would you do differently next time you play?”
Home Sweet Home
Concepts covered: Probability, addition
Equipment: Deck of cards, paper and pens, 100s chart, counters/tokens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to put your home there?”; “Do the number of kings left in the deck influence your decision on where to place your house? Explain why/why not.”; “What would you do differently next time you play?”
Shout-out to Toby and James Russo for creating this game.
Imparium
Concepts covered: Logical reasoning, odd/even numbers, spatial awareness, counting
Equipment: Paper, pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to place your tile there?”; “What other options were you considering?”; “What would you do differently next time you played?”
Shout-out to Walter Joris for creating this game.
Lego Barrier Game
Concepts covered: Location and transformation
Equipment: Matching set of Lego blocks (i.e. whatever blocks one player has, the other player needs an identical set), hardcover book (or anything else that can be a barrier)
Good questions to ask while playing: “What words do you think will be helpful for this activity?” (This is a great question to ask prior to playing.); “Can you say that again another way?”; '“What would you do differently next time you played?”
Last Dino Standing
Concepts covered: Logical reasoning, geometry
Equipment: 12 counters/tokens, paper, pen
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to make that jump?”; “How many different jumps can you make on this move?”; '“What would you do differently next time you played?”
MathemaTic-Tac-Toe
Concepts covered: Addition/subtraction
Equipment: Paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you put the ___ there?”; “Who do you think has a better chance of winning- the attacker or the defender?”; “What would you do differently next time you played?”
Shout-out to Andrew Lorimer-Derham (Thinksquare) for creating this game.
The Mouse, The Cat & The Cheese
Concepts covered: Probability, addition
Equipment: Six-sided dice, 100s chart, paper and pens, counters
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you decide to put the cheese on ___?”; “What is the chance of rolling a 2?”; “What would you do differently next time you play?”
Shout-out to James Russo for creating this game.
Traffic Light Os & Xs
Concepts covered: Logical reasoning
Equipment: 9 x red counters, 9 x orange counters, 9 x green counters, paper and pens
Good questions to ask while playing: “Why did you put that counter there?”; “Is there anywhere else you can place a _____ counter?”; '“What would you do differently next time you played?”