I am always looking for ways to make learning fun, and I have tons of kids this year who love blocks, so I knew that incorporating them into our learning would be a hit! A perfect partner to Lego tower subtraction race, this building block addition tower game is great for practicing the concept of addition in a hands on, engaging way!
Building Block Addition Towers
All you need to play this game is wooden blocks and some dice. I used large foam dice because they are super fun (and quiet too!)
I played this game in a small group, but you could also have it be in a math station or play it as a partner game.
First, we rolled the die. We rolled a 5, so we stacked up 5 blocks. This is great for one to one correspondence or as a counting game too if you are needing to differentiate it for your kids.
Next, we rolled the die again. This time we rolled a 3. So we stacked up 3 more blocks!
Now you have some choices – you can talk about the equation and use that language (ex: We had 5 blocks, plus 3 more, now we have 8!) or you can also keep rolling and adding to see how high your tower can go!
You could also have your kids bring small white boards to the game and write each equation after the dice rolls. It’s up to you and whatever works best for your kids!
I chose to first have them just keep rolling and stacking. It gets them excited, and gives them a good example of example that when we add more, we keep having a growing set. Then I moved into just rolling twice and talking about the equations.
More Building Block Activities
Looking for more fun, hands on learning activities using blocks? Check out these fabulous ideas from some awesome kid bloggers as part of the #toolsforlearning series!
- Building Block STEM Challenge Cards from Life Over C’s
- Fractions with KORXX Blocks from Still Playing School
- Building Block Maze Activity from Mom Inspired Life
- Free Printable: Block Scavenger Hunt for Letter Recognition from Play Dough and Popsicles
- Fine Motor Development with Blocks from Sugar Aunts
- Building Tens Castles (Preschool/Kindergarten Math) from Preschool Powol Packets
- Word Family BINGO! from School Time Snippets
- Building Block Addition Towers from The Kindergarten Connection
- Superhero Alphabet Matching Activity with Blocks from Stir The Wonder
- Storytelling with Wooden Blocks: Three Little Pigs from Adventures of Adam
- Sight Word ABCs with Blocks from Simple Fun for Kids
- Letter Sound Scavenger Hunt from Raising Little Superheroes
- Symmetry with Building Blocks from In The Playroom
- Building CVC words with Blocks from Teach me Mommy
- Making Patterns with Building Blocks from Play & Learn Everyday
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Alex
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A great activity that takes zero preparation time!