St. Patrick's Day Math Games with Gold Coins

Are you ready for some St. Patrick’s Day math games? Get out those lucky gold coins and get ready for some addition and subtraction fun!

Kids LOVE these coins, so why not put that excitement to good use?

You’ve probably already got a supply of these fun plastic coins hidden away in your March supply bin, or maybe even in your math tools. If you don’t have them, you can find a few packs at the dollar store. A few dollars worth will go a long way with these games. Plus, you’ll get double duty from these coins when you use them again in September for pirate games on Talk Like a Pirate Day. { Just a heads up: I spotted these coins this year in one of the larger crafts chain stores for $4.99!! Seriously, you can do much better than that at the dollar stores.}

The only things your students will need to play these games are gold coins and dice – no game boards, no cards! A few of the games also require a whiteboard and erasable marker, but you can use just use paper and pencil if you don’t have whiteboards on hand.

Here are the six St. Patrick’s Day math games that you’ll find on these task cards.

Roll and Give – Each player starts with 30 coins. Players roll two dice, add the numbers, and move that many coins from their pile, stacking them in a common pile. The first player to put all of his or her coins in the common pile wins.
Roll and Take – Start with a pool of 60 coins in the center of the table. Players roll two dice, add the numbers and take that many coins. The twist on this game is that there are two ways to win: be the first to get 40 coins OR be the one who takes the last coin!
Shamrock Toss and Tally – Toss ten coins on the table. Count and tally those that land shamrock side up. The first player to tally 50 wins the game. You’ll hear LOTS of counting by fives while this game is being played!
Away with the Coins – Each player starts with 15 coins. Players take turns rolling two dice and subtracting the lesser number from the greater one. The first player to get rid of all of his coins wins.
Toss Ten – Here’s a fun way to practice sums of ten! Players both make a list of all the combinations that total ten and then take turns spilling out ten lucky coins, noting the combination shown by counting heads and tails. Cross out each combination as it’s rolled. The first player to cross off all eleven on his or her list is the winner.
Roll, Tally, Stack – This is another roll, add, and take game, but this time there’s something different. Players mark their scores with tally marks, taking a coin each time they cross a group of five. The object of the game is to accumulate a stack of ten coins.

If you’d prefer not to use gold coins, two-sided counters or even pennies are perfect substitutes, and can take these far beyond St. Patrick’s Day math games and turn them into year-round staples in your math center! In fact, you might challenge your students to invent some of their own math games with gold coins!

Click here to download your set of directions cards to make it a snap for your students to use these St. Patrick’s Day math games in your math centers!