Fun Math Games: Toilet Paper Knock Down

If you belong to a warehouse club then chances are you've purchased an enormous package of toilet paper. We recently bought one that contained 30 rolls and when I looked at it, I started thinking of some easy math games my kids could play with it. As we got to exploring, I realized that my kids were learning a lot more than counting. They were using their gross motor skills, learning principles of balance and even practicing cooperation. And you thought toilet paper was only good for, well, you know...

You will need:

• A lot of toilet paper rolls (we used 30)

My daughter thought it was so funny that we were going to be playing with toilet paper. She happily helped me remove all the rolls from the packaging.

I didn't tell her what I had in mind for the rolls, so she just started building on her own. She built and stacked in so many different ways. If you don't get to play any games with the toilet paper, just give it to your child for building and they will be happy. 

She called this one a castle.

When my daughter finished building a tower she and her sister had fun running through it and knocking it down. And no one got hurt because the toilet paper is super fluffy!

I was excited to share my game idea with the girls. We built a tower from the rolls and I brought out a ball. I showed them how they could stand a few feet away and roll the ball to try and knock down the tower. 

All the girls took turns, going until they were able to knock the tower down. When it fell down, the person who knocked it over had to count to see how many rolls they were able to topple. The person who knocked down the most was the winner. 

We rebuilt the tower each time someone got a turn.

I just love this action shot of my daughter A. She decided throwing was a more effective method than rolling.

Now she counted how many she knocked down. She remembered that her sister knocked down 9 and discovered that she knocked down 11. "11 is more than 9," she shouted. We talked about how much more and she thought for a moment and answered "2!" The kids spent lots of time using their math skills to try and figure out who had knocked over the most rolls and who had gotten the fewest.

When my husband heard all the excitement going on the playroom he came in to see what we were doing. He was pretty surprised to find us playing with toilet paper! But it didn't take him long to get in on the act. I think he had more fun than the kids as he built toilet paper structures for them to knock down.

He wanted me to let you know that this one is a tree. 

So next time you bring home some toilet paper from the warehouse club, let your kid (and husband) play with it for a while. They'll be practicing math and other important skills. One more bonus: the paper is silent when it hits the ground, unlike blocks which make a big racket.

For more Math fun check out:

Ice Cream Math Games

Counting Fun with Ping Pong Balls

I link to these great parties.

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