towers up!

This is a fun math game that I used to play with my kids all the time when I taught 1st and 2nd grade.  I've been wanting to do a few more math-related things with Conner this summer, and when I saw foam cubes & dice at Target in the dollar section, I knew just what to do!
(If you want to play along - you'll need a piece of graph paper, 2 dot die, and 88 little cubes)

I glued some of the cubes together into stacks of 2-3-4 and 5.  I left some of the blocks single.  For my version, I used a total of 88 cubes.  I suppose if you just want to play with regular blocks that's fine, it's just easier if the blocks are stuck together.
Then I got out the graph paper and made a bunch of squares.  I then labeled the squares with 1-2-3-4-5.

You will also need 2 dice.  I just play it with one game board, and we take turns rolling the die.  Whatever number you get is how many blocks you take away.  So - say you roll a 3 and a 5.  You can take away a tower with 5 blocks and another one with 3 blocks.  OR you can take away two towers that are 4 blocks high.  Just whatever you do, you can't take the towers apart.  The goal is to not end up with a single cube left on the board!  When you have cleared the board, you can play it in reverse by rolling the dice to get all the pieces set back up.

He was playing with a friend the other day, and it evolved into a stacking/building game when they were done counting and playing.  They came up with some interesting towers and buildings!  When they were all done, it all stores easily in a shoebox! (I can't really explain the napkin bandana.  It's his thing lately.  He's 5. whatever.)

If you have any questions about how to play, let me know - otherwise - happy counting and building!