Make Learning Numbers Fun for Your Child With Dominoes

Dominoes is a family game played  by groups of people of upto 8. It involves a lot of counting, organizing etc. 

These skills are essential for your child’s growth and overall development. The original version may be a bit complicated for these young minds. However, we can tweak the game a bit to make it a fun and learning experience for them. 

You can either purchase the game or also make this game with a few items that are readily available. If you are interested in making the game at home, here is what you need to do.

Things you need

• Thick, white chart paper
• Permanent markers
• Scissors or a knife (to be used with caution around children)

How to make your own game

• Cut the chart paper into 28 small rectangles and divide each piece into two partitions in the middle. Do not cut along the partitions.

• Take seven pieces. In one half of each piece, place six dots. In the other half of the selected pieces, place zero to six dots. This is how the six pieces must look after placing the dots.
• From the remaining, take six pieces. In one half of each piece, place five dots. In the other half of the selected pieces, place zero to five dots.
• From the remaining, take five pieces. In one half of each piece, place four dots. In the other half of the selected pieces, place zero to four dots. 
• Pick four unused pieces and in one half of each piece, place three dots. In the other half of the four pieces, place zero to three dots. 
• Pick three unused pieces and in one half of each piece, place two dots. In the other half of the three pieces, place zero to two dots. 
• Pick two unused pieces and in one half of each piece, place two dots. In the other half of the  pieces, place zero and one dots.

• Leave the last unused piece untouched. 

This is how all the pieces must look

How to play?

• You need a group of two to four children to play the game.
• If there are more than two players, each child can draw four cards. Else they can draw seven cards. 
• Once the players have drawn the cards, you need to tell them to keep their cards in secret and not tell anyone which ones they have drawn. 
• The unused cards must be placed face down. 
• To begin, each player must draw one card. The player with the highest number of dots starts the game. 
• The first player whips out a card and places it in the centre of the table. 
• The next player whips out a card and places it near one of the numbers placed by the first player. Note that the number of dots must be the same.
• If the number of the dots on both partitions of the card of the second player is the same as one  of the numbers of the first card, then keep it perpendicular to the card.
• If the player doesn’t have a corresponding card, he/she can draw from the pile of unused cards and complete the pattern. 
• The player with one matching number gets 5 points and if two numbers are matching, the player gets 10 points.
• The game goes on until a player gets 50 points or until all the cards are used up. 

You can play this game as a family too

What do children learn?

• By playing this game, children can learn to count and plan their moves so that they can earn more points. The most obvious and prominent learning would be to count, add the dots and group them correctly when they place the cards adjacent or perpendicular to each other. 

• Children also understand how dice patterns work while arranging similar cards while playing the game.  Another fun game that you can play with these cards is arranging similar number patterns together. For instance, all the fives. This enhances their sorting skills.

Can you come up with more interesting games that can be played using dominoes? Share your answers in the comments below.