Magnificent Flying Machines

Looking for a fun way to combine math with drawing? Would your kindergartner like to draw a butterfly with you? In this activity, your child will practice matching cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3...) with dots on dice in order to create a beautiful butterfly. Because there is a reward (If she finds the right answer, she gets to draw!), your child will be more enthusiastic about practicing her numbers.

Additionally, this game introduces the concept of probability. An easy way to explain this to your kindergartner is to ask her, “What will probably happen?” or “Will you probably roll a 6?” Asking these types of questions is a great way to get your child to use critical thinking skills during the activity.

Skills:

• Number recognition
• Probability

What You Need:

• Two standard dice
• Paper and pencil for each player
• Crayons or markers (optional)

What You Do:

• The goal is to be the first player to draw a butterfly. The butterfly must have six parts: body, head, left antenna, right antenna, left wing, and right wing.
• Players each select a number between 1 and 6. They must write this number at the top of their paper.
• Players take turns rolling the dice. If they roll their number once, they can draw one butterfly part. If they roll it twice, they can draw two parts.
• The first player to draw their butterfly wins.
• If you would like, you can color and decorate your butterflies.

Variations:

• Instead of having players choose a number, assign a number to each part of the body. (You may wish to draw a butterfly and write a number on each part as an example.) Roll one die. Players can draw whichever part corresponds to the number they roll.
• To make the previous variation more challenging, have the players draw the butterfly parts in order. They must roll a 1 first, then a 2, etc.
• For subtraction facts practice, use two standard dice, roll the dice and find the difference. Either select a number from 0-5, or assign the numbers 0-5 to different parts of the butterfly.
• Draw a different animal, of your choosing. Perhaps you would like to draw “surprise” animals one part at a time. See if the other players can guess what your animal is!