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Learning how to make 3D dice for kids is fun paper-mache creative art with Elliot and myABCdad Learning for kids. As a teacher and a dad, I find activities that include several learning ingredients always achieves the greatest success. Roll math, art and French all into one brilliant activity and make giant dice with Elliot and his dad.
A bit about us…
My name is Craig and I am Elliot’s dad and also the author of this blog post. To dig deeper and find out more about us, visit our Who we are page. Before watching our video tutorial, it is worth noting that Elliot is 6 years old at the time. It is also of some note that the picture links above takes you directly to our Teachers Pay Teachers store pages where you can purchase paper net 3D shape activities and follow along with us.
Why build giant dice?
Games with dice are great at helping develop early counting and adding skills. Dots representing one to six on each side of a die are added to a second die to make numbers seven to twelve. Within a game environment dice deliver a richer reason to count amounts again and again. The repeating nature of dice play helps young brains remember.
In our home, we have dice stashed away in different corners, always difficult to locate when needed most. Part of the problem is they are tiny. For young children learning to count with small dots on a tiny dice face can be tricky and confusing. And it always seems that the smaller the hands, the wilder the rolls. Large dice help give little fingers a better chance of pointing directly at each dot and rolls tend to be less dramatic.
Buy or make them…
Buying is definitely an option and easy. You can find a multitude of big squishy rubber varieties and even stuffy ones to cuddle up with between turns in a game. The thing is, an absolutely amazing, rich learning experience is missed. The process of building your own dice does take time, preparation, materials and a truck load of patience. Within this time and effort though, is a sense of achievement and the value of spending time making them together – Priceless! And if that is not reason enough, then consider the math and art opportunities to be gleaned.
The Math
The math begins by first making 3D cubes from paper nets. To start, Elliot and I investigate the flatness of our paper nets. We then talk about the space within the cubes, helping make them 3D. Digging deeper, we examine the properties of a cube, the number of lines (edges), points (corners) and surfaces (sides). Throughout the building process Elliot gets to practise cutting and gluing. We toss in some trial and error, patience and end up with two super 3D cubes begging to be transformed. I cheat a little before asking Elliot what he would like to do with them, by planting dice on the table. He takes the bait and declares we should make giant dice.
The Art
The art begins by covering our cubes with papier-mâché. Although painting the structure straight away is possible, the paper tends to deform quickly under the weight of we paint. We us papier-mâché as a way to make the structure stronger and hold up under several coats of paint. The finished product is also more likely to last longer.
A top tip… using thicker card paper to print out the original paper net, helps the structure retain its’ shape under the weight of wet papier-mâché.
After having already built a 3D letter R, 3D letter M and piggy-banks using papier-mâché, Elliot now knows that running the paper strips through fingers after dipping them in the white glue and water mixture, helps prevent too much glue piling up on the surfaces of the cube. He also discovers that occasionally adding strips of dry paper, uses up some of the excess glue.
Drying does take a while, but it can be achieved faster with a hair-dryer. Placing them in a sunny, dry place also works and has the added benefit of being more energy efficient. When dry, we paint the cubes dark blue and red. We let them dry again before adding the white dots.
Also in our video tutorial is a language bonus, as we walk you through in English with Elliot adding simple explanations in French.
The French
Living in France is definitely helping Elliot’s French. At the time of this video, he is in Grande Section (Kindergarten). He has made tremendous progress, since he began in early November, 2016 after our move from Victoria, Canada. Not only is Elliot being a risk-taker joining me on camera, but also explaining our steps again in French is brilliant. Bravo Elliot!