Place value is an important skill in math and one that we practice a lot in the primary grades. Today I’m excited to share with you one of my favorite games that focuses on place value and it’s one you can play all year long!
This game is called Digit Place and this can be played whole group, small group, or with a partner. I recommend playing whole group many times before moving this into a partner game. Digit Place is also a great Morning Meeting Activity and could also be used as a math warm-up or a game to play when you have a few extra minutes.
Digit Place Game Instructions:
Here’s how you play:
- You make 3 columns on the white board – Guess | Digits | Place
- I also put up numbers 0-9 so we can cross off numbers after we eliminate them – there is a lot of strategy in this game too.
- You think of a secret number that the kids will have to figure out – this can be 2-digit, 3-digit, 4-digit, etc – depending on your class’s needs.
- Your students will guess a number. *Let’s say my secret number is 352. They guess 201. I will then write their guess in the guess column and write a 1 in the digits and a 0 in the place because they got one of the digits correct (2), but that digit was not in the correct place.
- We keep going until we get to the correct number
*This game has some strategy to it too. I will often have students figure out if the guess all of one number it can help us quickly figure out what the 3 digits are. For example, if they guess 999 and I say 0 numbers are correct – then we know 9 isn’t one of the numbers.
Digit Place FREEBIE
Grab this FREE Digit Place Recording Sheet printable! This is great for small groups or partners and can be used as a math game in stations once students get the hang of it. Click HERE to get your FREE recording sheet!