Description
How it works
Each player starts with twelve counters. Both roll, both find the difference between their two dice, and the player with the greater difference takes that many counters from their opponent. Play ten rounds, or until someone cannot pay up. Most counters wins. Subtraction usually gets far less game time than addition; this fixes that, and the stakes — losing your own counters — keep children honest about checking each other’s answers.
What you’ll need
- Two dice or number cubes
- Twelve counters per player
Skills practiced
Finding differences within 6, comparing differences, and subtraction as the distance between two numbers.
Grade level
1st through 3rd grade. Move to 10-sided dice or a deck of cards for larger differences — just hand out more counters.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
