Dominoes: A parent's review with activity suggestions

The game starts by shuffling all the tiles. Since the tiles are significantly larger and heavier than playing cards, this normally entails dumping all the tiles in a big heap on the table and swirling them around a few times.

After the tiles are shuffled, each player picks an agreed-upon number of tiles. Depending on the age of the players, the number could vary from 6 tiles to 20 tiles. The more tiles each player picks, the longer the game will last. Each player positions his tiles so he can see the dots on the face of each tiles, but so that the other players cannot.

Once all players have their tiles, each player selects one additional tile and turns it face up on the table. Usually, the player with the highest total number of dots goes first and on down the line. Although you could modify this to have the youngest player go first without everyone picking tiles, or the person who picks the lowest tile could go first.

After the order of play is decided and the players each pick the agreed upon number of tiles, the first player puts down a tile. Each person then takes a turn placing a tile from their pile next to an existing tile on the table. The catch is that each tile has two halves, and each half has a different number of dots on it. And, a tile can only go next to another tile with the same number of dots. For example, if the first player puts down a tile that has 3 dots on one half and 6 dots on the other half, the next player must play a tile that has either 3 dots or 6 dots on one half of the tile, so that the half with 3 dots can be aligned next to the the half of the original tile that also has 3 dots. (Confused? Take a look at the picture above, which shows a successful tile chain in action.)

Each person takes a turn placing a tile with the same number of dots next to either end position in the line. If a player does not have a tile that can be placed, he may pass his turn or pick additional tiles from the pot. In some games, the player picks just one tile from the pot. Then he either places it on the tile chain, if possible, or he passes his turn. In other games, the player must continue picking from the pot until he chooses a tile that can be placed on the end of the train.

The first player to place all of his tiles on the board and clear his hand wins!

The tiles can be sorted in a variety of ways. Ask your child to sort the tiles by color. This may be confusing, since most tiles have different amounts of pips on each half, meaning that the two halves of the domino will have two different colors. As long as one half of the domino has the color for that group, it can stay.

Or sort the dominoes based on blank halves. Those with a blank half go in one pile while those with dots on both sides go in another pile.

Perhaps your child wants to find all the dominoes with doubles, meaning that each half has the same amount of dots. The doubles could be one group while the rest of the dominoes comprise the other group.

Or dump the dominoes out on the carpet. Ask your child to sort them into two groups based on whether the tile landed face up, with pips showing, or face down.

Dominoes is, at its heart, a matching game! You need to match the 3 dots you see on a tile on the table to a tile in your pile that also has three dots.

Rather than play a tag-team style game where each player takes turns putting down one tile to create a long train of tiles, change the game so that each player simply races to make his own long train.

To begin, divide the tiles randomly in two equal piles. Then race with your child (or let 2 children race against each other) to see who can use all his tiles to complete a train first. Or the winner might be the child who has the least number of tiles left at the end, since not all tiles may fit into one train.

Their size and weight make domino tiles perfect for little fingers to practice the important pincer grip! Remind your child to pick up the tiles with the pointer finger and thumb of his dominant hand. Use the tiles as you would building blocks to create towers, long trains or paths, or tall stacks of single tiles. Of course, there is more practice with the pincer grip when children help put away the tiles!

Divide the group of tiles into two equal piles. Two children can play, with one being the leader or you can act as the leader and play with your child. The leader begins by placing a tile on the floor. The follower, or copy cat, must place a tile on the floor in the same position, but in a space slightly away from the leader's tile. Each time the leader places a tile on the floor, the follower must do the exact same thing. The leader is free to create any configuration he likes, but the copy cat must follow exactly. For this game, it may be easier for your child to recognize the configuration if the tiles are turned over so only the blank sides are showing.

Another fine motor exercise is to challenge a child to set up the dominoes on their narrow end to create the standard "domino effect" when the first domino is pushed over. It takes skill and precise placement of the dominoes to create a collapsing chain that stays in motion. Good visual discrimination will also be needed to keep the domino spacing even.

Counting - Ask your child to pick up several handfuls of tiles and place them in a line on the floor. Touching each one as he counts (for one-to-one correspondence practice), ask him to tell you how many tiles he picked up. You can try picking up the same number of handfuls and ask your child to count those. Were your bigger hands able to pick up more tiles?

More counting - Now ask your child to grab just one handful of tiles and count the number of dots in the total. When you grab a handful, your child can count again. Whose group had more dots? This time, more tiles does not necessarily mean more dots!

Comparing amounts - The task now is to find two dominoes that have the same total number of dots. For example, a domino with one dot and three dots would be the same as the domino that has two dots on each side. Before you show your child the dominoes, preselect some that will make his task simpler.

Adding dots - Place a domino on a piece of paper and ask your child to trace around the edge. Or you can draw a small rectangle the size of the domino. Draw a line down the middle to indicate the two halves of the tile. Draw the dots on the paper that you see on the domino. Ask your child to count the dots on each half and write the appropriate number under each half of the domino, placing a + sign between the numbers. Point to the numbers as you say aloud the number sentence, such as: "Three plus four." Ask your child to count all the dots together for the total. Next, ask him to add the = sign and the answer to complete the written number sentence. Now say the complete number sentence aloud, pointing to the numbers and signs as you speak: "Three plus four equals seven." Your child can repeat the sentence after you.

Adding domino tiles - Of course you can help your child create addition sentences with tiles as well. Place some tiles in front of your child, separating the groups slightly. After your child counts each group, create the number sentence as in the counting dots activity above. When he counts all of the tiles as one group, complete the number sentence.

Subtracting domino tiles - Set some tiles in a line in front of your child. Ask him to count them, moving from left to right and touching each one. Then push some of the tiles away from the line and ask your child to count those that you moved. Now ask him how many tiles remain in line. He may need to recount to discover the answer, or he may be able to glance quickly at the group that is left. You can say aloud the corresponding number sentence, such as: "Six take away two leaves four."

Ordering the tiles from 0 to 6 (or 9 or 12, depending on the domino set you purchase) - Separate the tiles that have one blank side from the rest of the group. Then ask you child to place the tiles in numerical order, starting with 0, based on the number of pips on the domino. (Having one blank side makes it easy for a child to focus on one side of the domino.)

Graphing - Create a graph on paper by drawing six vertical columns of boxes. Stack about 6 - 8 boxes in each column. Under the first column, write the number 1 and put one dot. Under the second column write the number two with two dots. (To make this a bit easier, you can color the dots the same color as they appear on the domino.) Give your child a handful of dominoes. Ask him to record the dots on his graph, coloring one square each time a domino half has that number of dots. Discuss the graph results with your child when he has finished. To add to the fun, each of you can make a prediction about which number will come up the most.

With so many tiles in each game, it's possible to create veeeerrrry long trains of tiles. Without regard for matching numbers on the tiles, challenge your child to form the tiles into letters or numbers. For example, five tiles in a vertical column, with three tiles in a horitzontal row across the tops creates the letter T. Or 10 tiles in a gently sloping curve that opens to the right creates the letter C.

Take turns with your child - first one of you creates the letter from tiles and the other person guesses which letter it is and then switch roles.

Since a set of dominoes has tiles with different numbers or dots and different colors, dominoes can be a great tool in helping your child practice his auditory processing (listening) skills.

Start by putting a group of tiles face up on the table. Describe a tile for your child based on color or number of the dots or its placement on the table and ask your child to find it. For example, say "I am looking at the tile that has 3 red dots and 2 blue dots and is next to a tile with 2 green dots" and challenge your child to point to the correct tile. Since many tiles look alike, this game requires strong listening skills.

Or, play a "Find the Domino" game in which you hide several dominoes around the house. Give your child specific directions to help him find the tiles. For example, say "Look for the domino under the chair that is in front of the television." He will have to listen closely to your clues to find them and you can see how long it takes for him to find all the hidden tiles.

On top of the counting, matching and fine motor requirements for playing dominoes, dominoes also encourages children to develop strong social skills.

For example, while playing, each child will need to take turns, follow the rules, wait patiently while other players make their moves, manage frustration if another player puts a tile in a spot he had already planned on using, and be a calm loser or gracious winner. Also, taking care of the dominoes during the game and being responsible for clean-up at the end of playtime are also important social skills.

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