To play the games, you will need some commercially available dice and cards (or these free paper cards instead) and some counters and coins.
1. Ten frame dice
These are cubical dice. The numbers on the sides are ten frames instead of the conventional dot patterns. Frame dice help learners visualize all the numbers from 0 to 20 intuitively. To find them, search for “ten frame dice”. One company that sells good ones is Hand2mind. Look for dice with dark ten frames on a light background, because dark markings on a light background are visually easier to read than other color schemes. If you don’t want to buy frame dice, you can download free paper cards instead.
2. Ten frame playing cards
These playing cards have ten frames instead of numerals. Using cards instead of dice allows learners to focus on a useful subset of numbers. For example, “Change 5+7 into 5+5+2” uses only the 5 and 7 cards. Lakeshore Learning is one company that makes ten frame and double ten frame cards. Choose cards with no numerals to make sure learners are paying attention to the visual represention. For these games, the best cards have simple dots in the frames — not images of objects or animals, which may draw learners’ attention to image details instead of number magnitudes. Also, check the size. Some ten frame “cards” are more like large mats. For a “deck”, as in some of the rules, you will want at least three cards for each number. It is helpful to pre-assemble card sets. For example, if you will be using “Change 5+7 into 5+5+2” you can put together sets of 5 and 7 cards in advance. Sometimes it is helpful to store the cards as a pack of all the 1 cards, a pack of all the 2 cards, etc. If you don’t want to buy ten frame cards, you can download free paper cards instead.
3. Ten-sided dice
These dice have ten sides instead of six, with a digit on each side. Ten-sided dice are handy for working with base ten digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. They are available from many vendors. Make sure the dice you choose are ten-sided and have numbers that are easy to see. Most ten-sided dice have sharp corners. If you can find ten-sided dice with blunt corners, these will reduce the amount of time some players like to spend spinning the dice like tops. If you don’t want to buy ten-sided dice, you can download free paper cards instead.
4. Counters
The games use the name “counters” to refer to any small items that can be used as gamepieces. Although most of the games do not involve counting, the name “counters” is nice because the gamepieces can be used outside the games to illustrate counting and many other mathematical concepts. You will need counters in two colors. The most popular colors tend to be red and blue. Flat glass gems, also called “vase fillers” or “flat marbles”, work well, especially the ones with a diameter of about 5/8 inch (1.5 cm). The flat glass gems are pleasant to handle and use. Most students do not use them in a noisy way, but if noise is a problem you can use plastic counters from educational vendors. If you don’t want to buy special counters, you can use dried beans, pennies, or anything else smaller than 3/4 inch (smaller than 2 cm) across.
5. Coins for flipping
Instead of metal coins, foam or plastic two-color counters may be used. They are quiet to flip and are available cheaply. If you don’t want to buy foam or plastic two-color counters, you can just flip a regular coin.
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July 11, 2020