| p>How do you keep the kids amused for the long | | | | a great game for reinforcing the conceptof place |
| summerholidays? What do you do when the inevitable | | | | value. |
| rainy day bluesstrike and everyone gets fractious and | | | | Run for it! |
| argumentative? Andhow do you cope when you are | | | | You will need six dice for this game. Roll the dice and |
| forced to play the waiting game | | | | lookfor runs (sequences) starting with 1 (so 1, 1-2, 1-2-3 |
| ... in doctors' surgeries, airports, or even long | | | | andso on). Each die that is part of a run scores five |
| carjourneys? | | | | points. |
| Get the dice out! Dice games are the ultimate in quick | | | | There can be more than one run in each roll. For |
| andeasy entertainment, with the added advantages of | | | | example,say you rolled the following combination: 1, 1, 2, |
| beingcheap, portable and educational too! You can | | | | 3, 5 and |
| start playingdice with children as young as 2 ½, | | | | 5. You would score 5 points for the first 1. You would |
| as long as you are surethat they are past the stage | | | | thenscore 15 points for the sequence of 1, 2 and 3, for |
| of putting things into theirmouths. And you will find that | | | | a totalof 20 points for that roll. The first player to reach |
| all ages up to grandparentsare happy to join in. | | | | 100points is the winner. |
| I offer below three particularly quick and easy games, | | | | Going to Boston |
| allof which can be played with children from about the | | | | Use three dice. Roll all three and keep the highest. |
| age of 4up. All you need are pencil and paper and dice | | | | Rollthe remaining dice and again set aside the highest. |
| - a maximumof 7, which you can probably find in | | | | Roll thelast die, and add up your total. Write down your |
| existing game boxesaround the house. | | | | score. Playa number of rounds and then either total |
| Beat That! | | | | your points to findthe winner, or simply count how |
| You will need between two to seven dice, depending | | | | many rounds were won by eachplayer. |
| on theage of the players. Roll the dice and put them in | | | | © Lindsay Small 2005 |
| order tomake the highest number possible. If you roll a | | | | Please feel free to reprint this article in its entirety |
| 4 and a 6,for example, your best answer would be 64. | | | | inyour newsletter or on your site, as long as you leave |
| Using three dice,a roll of 3, 5 and 2 should give you | | | | alllinks in place, do not modify the content, and include |
| 532, and so on. Writedown your answer, pass the | | | | ourresource box as above intact. If you do use the |
| dice, and challenge the nextplayer to "Beat That!" Play | | | | article,please send us an email so we can take a look. |
| in rounds and assign a winner toeach round. For a | | | | Thank you. |
| change, try making the smallest numberpossible! This is | | | | Editor@... |