Note: I’m writing a series of coronavirus support emails to our mailing list. To sign up, click here. I’ll also be posting content here, but there may be some lag time.

The coronavirus situation has become dire with incredible speed. Here in Seattle, the public schools have closed for at least the next two weeks, and people have gotten very serious about social distancing.

You’ll probably see a lot of explanations about exponential growth of viruses in populations. It surprises our intuition when the time it takes for the disease to move from 10 to 1000 cases is the same it takes for it to move from 10 thousand to 1 million cases. Which means that, pretty much wherever you are, you should start social distancing now to avoid the rush.

We’ve been trying to figure out how to support teachers and families during this time. We have a bunch of our lesson plans on our website already, and Seattle teachers should already have access to our supplemental curriculum to draw on for homework and math games to send home with students, since Seattle Public Schools bought licenses for all the teachers here. (Are you a Seattle teacher who doesn’t have access yet? Email me with the grade you teach and I’ll get you access to the appropriate book.)

We thought some specific suggestions might be appreciated, especially for families who are at home with one or more kids and looking for fun, educational ways to pass the time. (Prime Climb and Tiny Polka Dot are always recommended, of course.) While we’ve already mentioned some of our favorite games like 1-2 Nim and Pig in the past, here are some grade-specific ones to try out at home.

Some of these games aren’t on our website, so keep these links bookmarked if you want to get back to them.

(Free) Dice Games to Play at Home

• Kindergarten: Number Races.
• 1st Grade: Fill the Stairs
• 2nd Grade: Save Twenty
• 3rd Grade: Blockout
• 4th Grade: Blockout (Damult Dice Variation), or just Damult Dice
• 5th Grade and up: Damult Dice Division Allplay; Horseshoes

A tip: invest in some 8, 10, and 12 sided dice. They’ll make games like Fill the Stairs, Horsehoes, Damult Dice, and Odd Pig Out more interesting and replayable.

More games, plus a quick video on what makes a math game great, available on our games page.