My six year old is really excited by math these days. She came home from school talking about tally marks, which they had just learned. We put together an easy game that is super fun to play. My four year old keeps requesting it…maybe that’s because she won the first round?
All you need is 20 pennies, a die, and a partner. I decided to use real pennies, as a way to introduce coins to my daughters. We talked about each side of the coin, heads vs. tails, the size and color of the penny, and its value.
The goal of the game is simple. When the “penny pot” is empty, be the player with more coins.
- Roll the die. Collect the number of pennies from the “penny pot” that matches the number rolled on the die.
- Continue taking turns with your partner until there are no more coins in the penny pot. You must roll the exact number. For example, if there are 4 pennies left and you roll a 5, you cannot collect any pennies, and it is your partners turn.
- Count your pile of coins. The player with the highest number of coins wins. Because we wanted to tie in tally marks, we played first player to get 5 wins, wins the round.
My daughter LOVED drawing the tally marks on her white board scorecard. You can make so many changes to this game depending on age and skill. You can easily add more coins to the “penny pot,” as well as switch to a coin of a higher value.
Written by Anne