Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear is an ideal introduction to dice games for very young children. They can learn to count the dots on the die and begin to recognise the patterns on the die by looking for the matching pattern on the teddies. The game can be played as either a pencil and paper game or a board game. When you have mastered this game, you might want to move on to Number Chicks
Scroll down to access both printables.
Age:
3-5
Skills:
Counting
Pencil control
Patterns
Equipment:
One die
Printable sheet or game board
Pencils or counters
Pencil and paper game
Print out a Teddy Bear printable sheet for each player. With the youngest child starting, take it in turns to roll the die and colour in the appropriate teddy. For very young children, there is no need to introduce a competitive element. Just have fun!
If you want to play for a winner, continue to roll the die. If you roll a number which has already been coloured in, you miss your turn. The winner is the first to colour in all their teddies.
Board game
Either print the game board onto card stock and laminate, or print and stick inside a file folder. Assemble a small pile of counters in a particular colour for each player (keep these in a re-sealable plastic bag clipped to the file folder if you like).
Give each player a stack of coloured counters. Youngest child rolls first. He places his counter on the teddy with the corresponding number, then passes the die to the next player. If there is already a counter on the appropriate teddy, you miss your go. When all the teddies are covered, count up the counters. Whoever has placed the most counters is the winner.
Note:
To save printer ink you can of course have the children colour in the black and white version of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear and use that as your game board.
