Last week, my kindergartners learned how to play Train Race. With all the squealing and cheering, you might have thought it was a really exciting activity. It's just a simple counting game, but the students love it. The prep required is minimal. Print and laminate the cards below (you'll need one card for every two children, so print more if needed.) Trim them and then attach to a piece of yarn that's about one yard long. You can attach with staples, or punch a hole in the card and tie the yarn through. Gather a box of Unifix cubes or linker cubes. You can attach the "Train Race Start" to one end of the yarn, and "End" to the other end of the yarn. And now go sit down and have yourself a cup of coffee and one of those delicious double-chocolate cookies... because you're done. That's all there is to it.
Click here for the PDF.Wait. I lied. Each pair of students will need one die. So you'll also have to locate your box of dice and get it out.
To play, player one rolls one die. Player counts the dots on the die, and then counts out that many cubes, and builds a train with them. Next it is player two's turn, and he rolls the die and builds a train. For the next turn, player one rolls again, and adds a number of "cars" (cubes) to his train. Then player A needs to stop and count the number of cubes in his train. Each time a player has a turn, he/she needs to count the number of cars in his/her train.
The player whose train reaches the end of the yarn or the End card is the winner. I teach this game early in the year, and students frequently choose to play it during Math Workshop.
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