The Game of Pig
Practice thinking strategically as you roll the dice.
What you need:
• two dice
• pencil
• paper
What to do:
1. Two or more family members take turns rolling two dice.
2. On a turn, you or your child(ren) roll the dice as many times as you want, mentally keeping a running total of the sum. When you stop rolling, record the total. For subsequent rounds, add this figure to the total from previous rounds.
3. If a 1 comes up on one of the dice, the player scores 0 for that round and it's the next player's turn. If a 1 comes up on both dice, the turn ends and the player's entire accumulated total becomes 0.
4. The first player to reach a total of 100 points wins.
5. After playing the game, discuss the strategies you used to decide whether to keep rolling or to stop.
Learning benefits:
• mental addition
• strategic thinking
• probability
From Instructor magazine
Marilyn Burns is the creator of Math Solutions, inservice workshops offered nationwide, and the author of numerous books and articles. She is author of the book 50 Problem-Solving Lessons, Grades 1-6, distributed by Cuisenaire.
