Sum, Say, & Spray Math Game

Living in a rural area means we have limited access to pavement for sidewalk chalk play. So, as I've mentioned before on our facebook page when we know rainy weather is coming we use our deck. The other day we combined chalk play with some fun mathematical learning.

Our materials for the game included chalk, two dice, and a spray bottle. Big Brother loves when we find ways to use the spray bottle, so this game was right up his alley. We used our deck, but this game could also be played on the sidewalk, a basketball court, or a paved driveway. 

Before starting the game I used chalk to write the numbers from 1 to 12 all over the deck. I wrote each number multiple times. 

I introduced the game to Big Brother. To play he rolled the dice and counted the total, or sum, of the dots on the two dice. (We used a cake pan to contain the dice.) 

After he found the total dots, then he would say the number out loud. Next he would find the number on the deck, and then, his favorite part: spray it!

He sprayed the number until it disappeared. 

He played for quite a while and went back to it again the next day. (The rain didn't come quite as quickly as I expected so we still had several numbers left.) 

If I was playing this with older kids I would have them also say out the number sentence, or math problem, created by the dice. Other ways to play could include using a letter dice, or some other letter generator, to call out letters. Or another fun idea would be to try it with rhyming words for early readers.