Dice Mat

The Dice Mat and accompanying oversized foam die inspire many fun games that build counting, matching, and number skills. This mat encourages students to think of different ways to represent numbers.

In addition to dice, which represent amounts using the pips (dots) on the die, can students think of other ways to represent and compare numbers? If you have them in your classroom, bring out and discuss dominoes (which represent numbers the way dice do), Cuisenaire rods, counting chips, playing cards, hash marks, and so on.

Lesson Ideas

Although these ideas refer to Bee-Bot, they can all be done with Blue-Bot as well.

Remind students to press X to erase the commands the previous student entered.

Lesson Idea 1: Matching the Die to its Dots

Divide students into groups.
Have each student toss the die and send Bee-Bot to the image that matches the number of pips.
The next student presses X to clear those commands.
Repeat the process with the new student.

Lesson Idea 2: Matching the Die to its Word

Divide students into groups.
Have each student toss the die and send Bee-Bot to the number word that matches the number of pips.
The next student presses X to clear those commands.
Repeat the process with the new student.

Lesson Idea 3: Finding Different Routes

Divide students into groups.
Have a student roll the die.
Have students figure out how many different paths Bee-Bot can take to go to number on the die.

Lesson Idea 4: Rolling the Die Twice

Divide students into groups.
Have each student roll the die two times and remember the numbers for each toss.
The student then navigates Bee-Bot to the first number and then to the second number, with a Pause in between.

Lesson Idea 5: Using the Online Dice Mat

If students are using computers in your classroom, have them use the online Dice Mat in the Bee-Bot Emulator in a browser. They can explore the mat using these Lesson ideas.

Lesson Idea 6: Inventing a Game

Encourage students to make up their own game using this mat and the foam die.

Mat Details

This mat is incorporated into several of the Bee-Bot Lessons. These lessons give teachers lesson plans that are tied to national curriculum standards. They give students an opportunity to engage in 200 learning activities using the floor Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot or the same activities in the online emulator.

The mat is made of washable vinyl and measures approximately 18” by 36” (45 cm by 90 cm)

View the mat in Terrapin’s store.