Preschool Computational Thinking

Playing with Dice!

Summary

Children will play with dice to create a set of instructions (algorithms) with loops. Activity dice will be used to determine what move or animal sound to make. Number dice will be used to determine the number of times to repeat the move or sound. Children will learn to understand that the instructions or “codes” combining an activity with a number means that they need to do that activity a specific number of times. These loops make it easier for children to remember the instructions; rather than saying and remembering “jump, jump, jump,” children can say and remember “jump. 3” NOTE: The benefit of looping becomes more apparent with larger numbers.

Activity Steps

Game Play #1 - Moves:

Explain and define algorithms.

Algorithms involve laying out a step-by-step plan or procedure to meet an end goal or to solve a problem.

Select a number dice: If children are learning numbers and starting to practice counting, you may want to start off with the 1 through 3 dice. If children have more experience with numbers and counting, you can use the 1 through 6 dice or create dice with even larger numbers.

Introduce activity dice: Choose the dice with moves (clap, stomp, jump). This dice focuses on motor skills and invites children to clap, stomp or jump.

Introduce the game:

We are going to play a game together. We will roll two dice to create fun instructions or challenges for each other; we will use one dice to decide how we need to move and the other dice to tell us how many times we will move that way. We can take turns rolling the dice. And we will all do the moves together!

Model an example: Roll the dice or invite children to roll them. Encourage children to continue to count out loud to track the number of moves.

We rolled a clap and a 2, so we need to clap two times. We can also say “clap 2” as our instructions…let’s do it.

Continue through a few rounds, taking turns to roll the dice and inviting different children to determine what the instruction code is.

Game Play #2 - Animal Sounds:

Select a number dice: Use the dice with numbers that work best for the children in your classroom.

Action Dice: Choose the dice with animal sounds (cow, dog, cat). This dice focuses on auditory skills and invites children to make the sounds animals make; for instance, moo like a cow, say ruff like a dog, and meow like a cat. Children may determine animals make different noises (based on their experience or cultural background).

Introduce the game:

We are going to play a game together. We will roll two dice to create fun instructions or challenges for each other; we will use one dice to decide which sound we need to make and the other dice to tell us how many times we will make that sound. We can take turns rolling the dice. And we will all make the sounds together!

Model an example: Roll the dice or invite children to roll them. [NOTE: Since this round includes saying the animal sound, children can not count out loud at the same time, so you may encourage children to hold up the number of fingers to show the number of sounds.]

We rolled a ____(animal, e/g/ dog) and a ____(#, e.g. 3), so we need to repeat ___(animal sound, e.g. dog) ____(#, e.g. 3) times. We can also say “___(sound)___(#)” (e.g. ruff 3) as our instructions…let’s do it

Continue through a few rounds, taking turns to roll the dice and inviting different children to determine what the instruction code is.

Popular Searches

Preschool Computational Thinking

Playing with Dice!

Summary

Activity Steps

Game Play #1 - Moves:

Game Play #2 - Animal Sounds:

Computational Thinking

Mathematics

Popular Searches

Preschool Computational Thinking

Playing with Dice!

Summary

Activity Steps

Game Play #1 - Moves:

Game Play #2 - Animal Sounds:

Computational Thinking

Mathematics

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