Two Dice

This activity provides a valuable experience for younger pupils to explore some simple additions while finding all possibilities.

Using a dice with dots on, get some discussion going as to what numbers are represented by the faces of the dice before introducing the challange itself.

You could ask collect the children's totals, with how they are made, on the board, writing them up using some kind of system. (For example, all the totals that use a $1$.) In this way, you can ask the class to talk about the patterns they notice and this will help to reveal any combinations that are missing.

Can you make a bigger/smaller total?

If one dice shows $6$, what could the other dice be showing?

How do you know you've found all the totals?

Make use of more dice and/or dice with different numbers of faces.

Some equipment may be appropriate for some pupils who are struggling with addition.