5 Games to play at home to develop maths skills using dice

You don’t need specialist resources to help your child with maths at home. Everyday items, like dice, can be fantastic tools for developing number skills. Here are some simple, fun dice games suitable for primary-aged children.

Target Number

This game can be played alone or with others. Start by choosing a target number that suits your child’s age and stage. Using two dice, take turns rolling and use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to move your running total closer to the target. For larger target numbers, you might roll more dice or roll twice to create bigger numbers to work with.

Highest Number

Ideal for two or more players, this game helps children practise place value and reading numbers. Your child rolls one die as many times as needed to create the size of number they’re working on – for example, three rolls for a three-digit number. They then arrange the digits to form the largest possible number. The player with the biggest number wins the round. You can also reverse it and aim to create the smallest number.

Even or Odd

This two-player game begins by choosing who is even and who is odd. The first player rolls two dice and uses addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to make a total. The player whose category matches the result earns a point. You can allow free choice of operations each turn or limit it to one operation per game.

Head to Head

In this two-player challenge, each player needs two dice. Both roll at the same time and apply the same operation to their numbers. The player with the higher answer wins the round. You can choose the operation at the start or let players decide each time.

Watch Out for 1

This game is designed for two players and focuses on reaching a target number, which you can adjust depending on your child’s level. For example, if the target is 100, the first player rolls two dice and adds the numbers. They can continue rolling to increase their score, but if they roll a single 1, they earn zero for that round. Rolling double 1 wipes their entire score back to zero. Play continues until someone reaches the target. You can make the game more challenging by choosing a different number that resets the score.

We hope you enjoy trying these dice games at home. If your child would benefit from extra support, our online one-to-one and small group tutoring sessions can help build confidence and strengthen their maths skills. Feel free to get in touch via our website or social channels.

At My Primary and Secondary Tutor we provide expert one-to-one and group tuition for pupils across Scotland, the wider UK and online, supporting children from P1 to S6 and Key Stage 1 to GCSE. Our experienced fully qualified teachers are specialists in both the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and the English National Curriculum, helping pupils who are struggling, have gaps in learning or want to build confidence across a wide range of subjects. We offer tailored support in English, maths, history, geography, physics, modern studies, accounting, economics, business, IT and our unique Emotions First programme designed to nurture children’s emotional wellbeing alongside academic progress. Parents trust our team of tutors to deliver high-quality professional tuition that meets every learner’s needs. Find out more and book a session by emailing karen@myprimaryandsecondarytutor.com or completing our contact us form.

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