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A pack of cards and two dice cost very little, yet they practise much of what Class 1 to Class 3 maths covers: counting on, adding, reading big numbers and comparing them. Here are six games, sorted from age 5 to 10.
Do card and dice games actually build number sense?
Number sense is a child's feel for how big numbers are, how they compare and how they combine. The clearest evidence comes from numbered race games. In a 2008 study in Child Development, Geetha Ramani and Robert Siegler found that low-income preschoolers who played a linear number board game for about one hour got better at comparing numbers, estimating on a number line, counting and naming numerals, and the gains were still there nine weeks later. A version with coloured squares instead of numbers did not help. A companion study in Developmental Science found that four 15-minute sessions eliminated the gap in numerical estimation between low-income preschoolers and better-off peers.
The effect is real but modest. A 2025 meta-analysis in Review of Educational Research pooled 18 studies from preschool to second grade and found a small average effect (g = 0.21) of linear number board games on maths outcomes.
How you play matters too. In a home study of 86 five-year-olds led by Nicole Scalise, a number card game played for six weeks did not improve number skills more than a shape card game did. The researchers found that families played and talked very differently, and that these differences in home experience predicted what children learned from the game. So talk as you play, as in our guide to everyday maths talk with young children.
What should a child know at each age in India?
The national foundational numeracy mission, NIPUN Bharat, sets targets that climb step by step. In the Balvatika year a child recognises numerals up to 10. By Class 1 they read and write numbers up to 99 and do simple addition and subtraction. By Class 2 they read and write numbers up to 999 and subtract within 99. By Class 3 they read and write numbers up to 9999 and solve simple multiplication problems. Pick games by what your child can do, not only by age.
Which card and dice games suit ages 5 to 7?
Take out the picture cards first. The Ace counts as 1.
Game 1: Number track race (age 5). Lay the Ace to 10 of one suit in a row. Each player rolls one die and moves a coin that many cards, saying the numbers they land on ("6, 7, 8"), not "1, 2, 3". First past 10 wins. Later, add a second suit for a 1-to-20 track. This is the closest home version of the Ramani and Siegler game.
Game 2: Top It (ages 5 to 6). Split the deck. Both players turn over a card and the bigger number takes both. When the cards are close, ask "How many more is 8 than 6?"
Game 3: Make 10 (ages 6 to 7). Lay out twelve cards face up. Take any two that add to 10 (Ace and 9, 4 and 6), or a 10 on its own. Refill the gaps and keep going. These pairs, called number bonds, later let a child add 8 + 5 as "8 + 2, then 3 more".
Which games suit ages 7 to 10?
Game 4: Two-dice totals (ages 7 to 8). Each player rolls both dice and adds; the higher total wins a point. Later, keep a running score and race to 100.
Game 5: Biggest number (ages 8 to 9). Use Ace to 9, with the 10 standing for zero. Deal three cards each, arrange them into the largest three-digit number you can, read it aloud ("seven hundred and forty-two") and compare. Later deal four cards for numbers up to 9999, or play "smallest number wins".
Game 6: Closest to 100 (ages 9 to 10). Roll two dice and choose the order: a 3 and a 5 make 35 or 53. Over four rolls, add your numbers and try to land closest to 100 without going over. Every turn is a place-value decision.
How do you keep it a game, not a test?
Keep sessions short; the Developmental Science study used 15-minute sessions. A few habits help:
Stop while your child still wants another round.
Let them keep score, so the adding is theirs.
Ask about thinking, not just answers: "How did you work that out?", "Is 53 more or less than 35? How much more?", "What do you need to win?"
If a game ends in tears, drop back a level.
If maths makes you tense, read about parents' maths anxiety first; if your child already says they are no good at numbers, see what helps when a child says "I'm bad at maths". If you want to refresh an idea such as place value before you play, the Fermi Concept Library has a lesson for every concept in mathematics.
Tonight, take out one suit and one die and play Game 1 for ten minutes.
