Here is a fun, spring, place value math game that is perfect for BOTH first AND second grades because I created it in two different levels! (I’m also including my original Kindergarten level number recognition version, too!) I call it “Roll a Rabbit,” and my first and second graders really had fun with it! Plus, it was a great way for my first graders to practice counting up numbers in sets of tens and ones, and my second graders to practice counting numbers in sets of hundreds, tens, and ones.
Hope you like it!
We used to play a simplified version of this number recognition game in Kindergarten all the time, and we did one on EVERY single holiday! We rolled a pumpkin, a turkey, a Santa, a Valentine… you name it, we rolled it and drew it! (I think I’ll share ALL of these “Roll Its” on a blog post coming soon! Stay tuned!!) So this year, each time a holiday “rolled around” (HA!) and I searched through my files for a fun learning game, I looked regretfully at each of these games and wished that they were appropriate for my students… but knew that they were WAY too easy! All the kids did was roll a number on regular old dice and then draw the indicated body part. We called one version “Draw A Bunny” because they would draw a card instead of roll the dice, then they drew the bunny based on the sum of the cards. See the photo below.
But then- right before St. Patrick’s Day, necessity became the mother of invention and I actually found some time to adapt the game! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a little movie I posted of kids playing my Roll a Leprechaun Place Value Game. And this Roll a Rabbit game plays just the same way! In fact, I also posted a little video of this game on Instagram too, right before Easter, along with a note that I would post a copy of the game on my blog the following week.
I’m going to post a copy of the Roll a Leprechaun game here just in case any of you would like to do this one as a “post holiday” activity as well. 
What Skills Does this Game Teach?
I think that this game really helped my students get extra practice in adding up the expanded form of larger numbers. It also helped them to think of the range that the numbers were “between,” because they had to figure out where to write each number. For example, the first graders had to figure out if 67 was between 50 and 59, or 60 and 69? The second graders had to figure out if 379 was between 300 and 400, or 700 and 800, etc. It did not take very long for them to figure all of this out, but they sure had a great time doing it! I think that many of them also really enjoyed coloring the rabbit! A few of them wanted to play it a second time, too!
Supplies:
To play this game, you will need some place value dice for your kids. Those are the dice that have TEN NUMBERED SIDES.
The game can be played using one set of dice per child, or the dice can be shared if they play the game in pairs of small groups. So, the more people playing against each other, the fewer pairs of dice you will need. I have seen some printable ten sided dice online, but I don’t know how difficult it would be to fold them and use them. (Plus, in my experience, little kids often accidentally squish the paper dice after all that prep!)
– First graders need one die that has zero through nine on it, and another die that has zero through 90 on it in multiples of ten (zero, ten, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, etc.)
– Second graders need all of the same dice that the first graders need, PLUS a hundreds die with zero through 900 on it in multiples of 100 (zero, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, etc.)
I got mine in person at the I Teach K! Conference in Las Vegas from the Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks booth. Their dice are high quality and I love them! They are also priced individually at just fifty cents each! However, they are located in Canada, so the shipping costs to US customers may be inevitably high. You may be able to find them for a lesser total price elsewhere, perhaps even at your local teacher supply store.
Here is what an Amazon search on ten sided dice brought up:
I searched for a while and found this set. If you have Amazon Prime, then this is a great deal because shipping is included. You get two sets of dice with ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands for $6.15
Here is another source- SchoolOutfitters.com. You get two sets with ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands for $4.99. Their web page says that it ships in 24 hours, but I do not know how much they charge for shipping.
Object of the Game:
The object of the game is to complete the drawing of the rabbit. If you are playing against one or more people, then the object of the game is to be the FIRST person to complete the drawing of the rabbit!
How to Play:
Roll the dice and and put them in order by tens and ones for first grade, or hundreds, tens, and ones for second grade. Then add the numbers together and write the sum in the correct section that it falls into. For example, if the sum is 56, then it should be written in the section for numbers between 50-59. If the sum is 369, then it should be written in the section for numbers between 300- 399. NOTE: Be sure that your students understand that the hyphen is NOT a subtraction symbol, or they can become quite confused! 
After writing the number in the correct space, draw the body part of the rabbit that is indicated next to that number. Sometimes, you will have to get two numbers in the same range in order to complete the drawing, because you will need two feet, two eyes, etc. Other times, you will need just one head and just one body, so there will be a space for just one number. Once a space is filled in, if you roll a number in that range again, you lose that turn. However, if a child is playing by himself, he should simply roll again.
Other Info:
I decided to help the kids by drawing in the body and head of the rabbit with dotted lines ahead of time and copying them onto the paper for them. This makes the game a little easier to play. However, it is not absolutely necessary to play this way! Our kindergarten version was just played on blank paper with regular six sided dice, and the children enjoyed it quite a bit!
Roll a Rabbit #placevalue Dice Activity! Free on next week’s blog! #Easter #firstgrade #secondgrade
A video posted by Heidi Butkus (@heidisongs) on
I hope you and your students enjoy this game! I know that it can be adapted to be played in many different ways, including finding differences, products, etc. So if you come up with a new way to play it, please share! You can download the Roll a Rabbit game here. And you can download the Roll a Leprechaun game here! Enjoy!
Heidi
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