Halloween Math Game: Roll a Jack-O’-Lantern
The holidays are the perfect opportunity to spice up learning activities! This roll a jack-o’-lantern game helps kids practice recognizing numbers, place values and patterns. It’s flexible across ages and only takes a few minutes to put together.
Materials
Directions
Ask your child to draw a pumpkin on orange construction paper. Help cut the pumpkin out, then tape it to a black sheet of construction paper.
Using black construction paper, help your child cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth for each player.
Write out rules based on number values. For older children, write rules for two dice — one to represent the tens place and one for the ones place. Writing rules for one die may be better for younger children. For example, certain numbers ranges are rewarded with gaining a piece of the jack-o’-lanterns face. Get creative! Other possibilities include choosing a number that requires players to remove a face piece or choosing a number (maybe your child’s favorite number) as the value that gives all the pieces to one player for an instant win! To make the most of the rules, tailor them to your child’s learning needs. If your child recently learned the difference between odd and even numbers, try making a rule that involves practicing that knowledge.
You’re ready to play! If you’re using two dice, make sure the players know know which die represents the tens and which die represents ones. Then have each player roll the dice and check the list to see what action to take.
Allison McDonald is a former preschool teacher and director who started her popular early education blog No Time For Flash Cards as a way to keep one foot in her professional life while knee deep in motherhood. Learning should be fun, and it's Allison's goal to help all parents be able to add a little fun and learning to their child's day. Allison lives in a yellow farmhouse outside of Seattle with her two kids and husband.
Math