Dice Game for Grandchildren

I love games.

When I was growing up, I would beg and cajole my siblings to play Clue, Sorry, or Monopoly with me. Sometimes we would play card games such as Crazy Eights or War.

While our children were growing up, we’d play games as a family. We spent many happy hours playing together.

My mother, who will soon be 88, enjoys playing Rook when we have a family get together — and I love playing with her.

Playing games is a good activity that grandparents can do with grandchildren that can strengthen their relationship. Some games are good learning activities, too.

Here’s a dice game that will help young children learn the numbers on the dice — while having a fun time playing together. It’s a fast-paced game and doesn’t take much skill. That makes it easy for young grandchildren to play with older ones.

(I made up this dice game and I sure hope I’ve explained it good enough so that you can understand it. Please contact me if you have any questions!)

The Dice Game
Object: To be the first player to complete all of the rounds.

Each player gets 10 dice.

Everybody rolls all of their ten dice at once. Each player pulls out the appropriate dice that they need to complete the round that they are on. Then, players pick up the remaining dice and roll all of them again.

Speed is of the utmost importance. The faster you roll your dice, the quicker you’ll get what you need to win the round!

When you get all of the correct dice for the round you are on, call out “Winner.” Everybody stops rolling their dice.

The person who won that round now advances to the next round. The other players who did not finish their round must work on that same round until they complete it.

Everybody picks up all ten dice and begin rolling their dice again.

The person who is the first one to finish all of the rounds is the winner.

Round One
Goal: 10 dice that are all of the same number.

Round Two
Goal: 5 dice all of one number and 5 dice all of a different number.

Round Three
Goal: 5 pairs. Each pair must be of 5 different numbers.

Round Four
Goal: 3 sets of 3 of the same number. Each set must be of a different number (e.g. a set of ones, a set of fours, and a set of sixes).

Round Five:
Goal: 2 sets of 4 dice of the same number. Each set must be of different numbers (e.g. 4 dice of the number two and 4 dice of the number five).

Round 6
Goal: 2 sets of three of a kind and two sets of pairs. Each set must be of different numbers (e.g. three dice of the number two, three dice of the number four, a pair of the number one, a pair of the number six).

Round 7
Goal: ten dice of the number 6.

Round 8
Goal: Roll one dice. Continue rolling the rest of the dice until you get all ten dice of that number.

Variation.
Have you ever played the card game Phase 10? This variation is similar to that game. But instead of using cards, you use dice.

Everybody starts rolling their dice all at the same time. They keep rolling until someone finishes a round. When that player finishes a round, they call out “Winner.” Everybody stops rolling their dice.

The person who won that round now advances to the next round. The other players who did not finish their round must work on the same round until they complete it.

The winner is the first person who completes all of the rounds.

Round 1: 2 sets of three of the same number
Round 2: 1 set of three of the same number and 1 run of 4
Round 3: 1 set of 4 of the same number and one run of 4
Round 4: 2 sets of 4 of the same number (can be of the same number)
Round 5: 7 dice of one number
Round 6: 1 set of 5 of the same number and 1 set of 2 of the same number
Round 7: 1 set of 5 of the same number and 1 set of 3 of one number

Happy playing!