Looking for the best kids dice games?
These simple kids dice games are great for young players! Games for kids and families – they are perfect for families with young kids. Dice games for young kids are fun and simple. We’ve listed our top games: Using dice with kids aged 8-13 is a great way to teach math! All you need is a piece of paper for score keeping. Dice games are popular for a number of reasons, and we hope you love our collection of dice games for preschoolers
11 BEST Kids Dice Games (And How To Play)
Option #1
BEETLE
Why it’s great for kids: Number recognition; eye-hand coordination
Materials Needed
- Pencil and paper for each player
- 1 dice
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
- Choose which player starts first
- Hand out pencil and paper to each player
How to play
- Each player has to roll the dice till they draw a body part that is corresponding to the number of dice.
- Rolling 1 – draw the body
- Rolling 2 – draw the head
- Rolling 3 – draw one leg
- Rolling 4 – draw one eye
- Rolling 5 – draw one antennae
- Rolling 6 – draw the tail
The player who can complete the drawing first is the winner.
Option #2. KNOCK OUT
Why it’s great for kids: Boosts fast addition skills
Materials Needed
- 2 dice
- Pen and paper for keeping score
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
Decide how many rounds you will play to decide a winner
How to play
- The knock-out number is 7, which means you should avoid rolling a 7.
- First player rolls the dice.
- Add up the numbers – this is your score at the end of the round.
- Next player rolls.
- If you roll a 7, you have to cancel out the score for all previous rounds.
- Don’t worry, you are still in the game.
- Tally the scores at the end of the decided number of rounds.
Player with highest score wins.
Option #3. FLOWER ROLL
Why it’s great for kids: Helps with number recognition
Materials Needed
- A colourful flower in pot picture with number placements (make or print)
- 1 dice
- 4 colour tokens
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
Decide which player starts first
How to play
- Roll the dice.
- Take a token and place it on the corresponding number on the picture.
- Next player rolls the dice and places a token.
- This option is a simple game to encourage number recognition, and does not have a winner.
Option #4. GOING TO BOSTON
Why it’s great for kids: Improves basic addition skills
Materials Needed
- 3 dice
- Pen and paper
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
- Decide which player will begin first.
- Decide how many rounds you want to play or decide a winning score.
How to play
- The first player rolls all the 3 dice.
- Count the numbers rolled and keep aside the dice that has the highest number.
- Roll the remaining 2 dice.
- Choose the highest from these 2 and set it aside.
- Roll the last dice.
- Now add all the 3 numbers to get your score for the round.
Player with the highest score at the end of the rounds or the one who reaches the decided number first is the winner.
Option #5. RUN FOR IT
Why it’s great for kids: Addition; decision-making
Materials Needed
- 6 dice
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
Decide which player goes first
How to play
- Roll all the 6 dice.
- Organize them into runs, starting from 1.
- You score 5 points for each run.
- For instance, if you rolled 1, 2, 3, 6, 1 and 6, you will be able to make a score with 1,2,3.
- This means your total run is 15.
- You have to roll at least a 1,2 to score.
- Roll 1,2 – 10 points
- Roll 1,2,3 – 15 points
- Roll 1,2,3,4 – 20 points
- Roll 1,2,3,4,5 – 25 points
- Roll 1,2,3,4,5,6 – 30 points
First player reaching 100 wins.
Option #6. DICE CRICKET
Why it’s great for kids: Addition
Materials Needed
- 1 dice
- 2 copies of scoreboard (make or get online)
- Pen and paper
Setting up
- Make two teams.
- Write names of players in corresponding teams.
- Roll dice to decide who bats first.
How to play
- First two players on the top of the team sheet start batting.
- Roll the dice.
- 1,3 – same amount of runs and player changes crease
- 2,4,6 – same amount of runs without changing crease
- 5 – out
- Jot down the runs.
- Next player bats and scores.
- After rolling 5, you can roll again.
- In that case:
- 1 – wide ball, not out.
- Add this 1 to the extra column.
- Same player takes roll again.
- 2 – no ball, not out.
- Add this 1 to the extra column.
- Same player takes roll again.
- 3 – bowled out
- 4 – caught out
- 5 – LBW
- 6 – run out
- Add runs including extras.
- Next team bats.
Team with higher score wins.
Option #7. THREE OR MORE
Why it’s great for kids: Addition; decision-making
Materials Needed
- Pen and paper
- 5 dice
Setting up
Decide number of rounds
How to play
- Roll dice.
- You need at least 3 of a kind.
- 2 of a kind – re-roll remaining dice.
- 2 of a kind again – score is zero.
- Next player rolls dice.
- 3 of a kind on first roll – you can’t re-roll.
- 3 of a kind – 3 points
- 4 of a kind – 6 points
- 5 of a kind – 12
- If you don’t get at least 2 of a kind on first roll, you can’t roll again.
Player with highest score wins.
Option #8. ROUND THE CLOCK
Why it’s great for kids: Addition
Materials Needed
- 2 dice
Setting up
Decide who goes first
How to play
- Roll dice.
- 1 – roll again
- Next you have to roll 2, whether 1+1 or any dice shows 2.
- Keep rolling as long as you are getting numbers in sequence.
- For numbers above 6, you have to count both dice and get the required number.
Player scoring 12 first wins.
Option #9. PASSAGE
Why it’s great for kids: Number recognition
Materials Needed
- Pen and paper
- 2 dice
Setting up
- Roll 1 dice to get point number.
How to play
- Players take turns to roll 2 dice and get point number.
- For each point number, score 1 point.
- For instance, if point number is 4 and you roll 3 and 4, you get 1 point.
- Point number as a sum doesn’t count.
- Rolling doubles of point numbers – 2 points
First player reaching 11 wins.
Option #10. PIG DICE
Why it’s great for kids: Addition; learning about when to stop
Materials Needed
- 1 dice
- Paper and pencil
- A sturdy surface
Setting up
Decide who goes first.
How to play
- Roll dice.
- 2,3,4,5,6 – you score and can roll again
- 1 – can’t roll again and lose all turns in that round
- Stop whenever you want, note your points and pass to next player
Player reaching 100 first wins.
Option #11. BALLOONS
Why it’s great for kids: Can use variations to learn addition or subtraction
Materials Needed
- Sheet of paper to draw on
- Coloured pens
- 10-sided dice (for addition within 20)
Setting up
- Draw 10 balloons on the paper.
- Write numbers from 0-9 inside the balloons.
- Decide who starts first.
How to play
For addition
- Roll the dice.
- You have to move from the bottom balloon and go upwards.
- For instance, if the number on the dice is 6, add 6 to the number inside each balloon.
- For each correct addition, you score 1 point.
Player who gets 20 points first wins.
For subtraction
- You have to get the difference between the value on the dice and the number inside each balloon.
- For each correct subtraction, you score 1 point.
How kids benefit from learning to play dice games
There are many benefits that kids can derive from learning to play dice games:
- Basic maths
- Social skills
- Intellectual development
- Teaches mutual respect
- Builds patience
- Team spirit
- Alert, observant and fast thinkers
- Strategy building skills
Are these games fun for adults too?
These games are extremely fun and entertaining for the young minds as well as for adults, which makes them such a popular family game.
3 Characteristics of a Great Dice Game for Kids
1. Age-appropriate: Age-appropriate games help your kids to learn as they play.
2. Start with simple games: For first-timers, start with something simple to help clear concepts.
3. Short and sweet: Start with games that take less time to play as kids have shorter attention spans.
With so many amazing dice games to choose from, now that you know the benefits playing these can have for your child, try going from one game to the other and build up an entire list of your favourite family dice games!