Description
How it works
A player rolls all seven dice, or turns over seven cards. Any pair adding to 10 is erased and costs nothing; whatever is left gets added up as the score. Roll 4, 5, 6, 5, 8, 9, 3 and you can erase 4+6 and 5+5, leaving 8+9+3 = 20. Lowest total after an agreed number of rounds wins. Because erasing lowers your score, children go hunting for tens rather than waiting to be asked for them.
What you’ll need
- Seven 10-sided dice and a cup, or a deck of numeral cards / playing cards valued 0–10 (ace = 1, queen = 0)
- Paper for scoring, and a calculator if you want the focus on spotting rather than adding
Skills practiced
Recognising combinations of 10 inside a messy set of numbers, and adding a string of single-digit numbers.
Grade level
1st through 4th grade. Drop to a target of 7 with regular dice for younger players, or add a wild card so more pairs are possible.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
