Pig

From About Teaching Mathematics: A K-8 Resource, 3rd Ed. by Marilyn Burns, page 99 and The I Hate Mathematics! Book by Marilyn Burns, page 115 (includes an illustration of pigs playing Pig).

Materials: A pair of dice (or a pair of pigs from Pass the Pigs Winning Moves game)

This is a game for two or more players. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach 100. On your turn, roll the dice as many times as you like, keeping a running total of the sum. When you decide to stop rolling, record the total for that turn and add it to the total from previous turns.

The catch: If you roll a 1, your turn automatically ends and you score 0 for that round. If you roll two 1’s, not only does your turn end, but your accumulated total returns to 0.

After becoming familiar with the game, write a strategy for winning.

Below is a review of Pass the Pigs, which appears on Amazon.com:

I am a teacher and I use this game with my kids at school all the time. They LOVE it from grade school to high school, depending on how you use it. I don’t really follow the rules that came with it, only the values of how the pigs land. I have used it often in an after-school tutoring program where we practice math facts and addition. I took the instruction sheet from the game, found the place where they have the pigs drawn and what the rolls are worth, enlarged it on the copier so all the kids (usually less than 6) can see it at the same time (and of course, colored the pig drawings pink!) Then each student rolls, finds what his roll is worth, and adds his score. The first to pass 100 points wins. We sometimes start with 100 and subtract our score. The first to zero (or less) wins. We have played where I announce at the beginning of the round that “This roll will be multiplied by 7” and the kids all cheer “Come on double razorback!” I was amazed how fast they learned what each roll was worth.

In addition to doing arithmetic, Pig involves discovering and implementing a strategy.

If your children enjoy playing the Pass the Pigs, check out the Game of Skunk. Below are links to descriptions of the game and scoring sheets:

NTCM Illuminations: illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L248
Digital Lesson: digitallesson.com/MathGames/GameSkunk.pdf

The skunk on the right is from MathWire.com (mathwire.com/data/dicetoss2.html), where you can find these two-dice games and others.