The Ministry is migrating nzmaths content to Tāhurangi.           
Relevant and up-to-date teaching resources are being moved to Tāhūrangi (tahurangi.education.govt.nz). 
When all identified resources have been successfully moved, this website will close. We expect this to be in June 2024. 
e-ako maths, e-ako Pāngarau, and e-ako PLD 360 will continue to be available. 

For more information visit https://tahurangi.education.govt.nz/updates-to-nzmaths

Purpose:

  • To give practice in matching one to one on a number line, and simple subtraction.

You need:

  • A die
  • One number line 0 – 20
  • 2 coloured counters – one for each player

How to play:

  • There are only 5 turns.
  • Try to get as close as possible to 20 but no-one can go past.
  • Each person takes a turn to throw the dice.
  • They move forward that number.
  • Sometimes players need move their counter backwards.
  • When 5 turns have finished players see where they have landed and subtract the number from 20. For example, if player A finishes on 17 they can either subtract 17 from 20 or count the spaces left and have 3. Player B may have finished on 19 so their difference is 1.
  • The player with the least points is the winner.

Variation:

  • Play 5 games and keep a running total of the scores. For example player A may have 4 from the first game, then 2, 1, 4, 2 finishing after 5 games with 13 points. If player B finished with 11 points, player B would be the winner.

Download a file of this activity:

PDF (8KB) or Word (27KB)