Total or Difference

The 'Total or Difference' game is an engaging educational activity designed to help learners practice adding and subtracting multiples of ten. The necessary materials for this game include dice that either display multiples of ten or the digits 0 to 9, a tens board, and counters for keeping score. The objective of the game is to reinforce the understanding of basic addition and subtraction through hands-on practice and visual aids.

During gameplay, participants take turns rolling the dice to generate two multiples of ten, specifically any number from 10 to 90, excluding zero (players re-roll if zero is thrown). Once two numbers are obtained, players must decide whether to calculate the total sum or the difference between the two numbers. They then place a counter on the tens board to mark their answer. For example, if a player rolls a 40 and a 70, they would work out the difference (70 - 40 = 30) and cover the number 30 on the board, as the total would not be present. The first player to align four of their counters in a row—horizontally, vertically, or diagonally—wins the game. This activity also encourages players to recognise the correlation between single-digit number facts and their corresponding multiples of ten, enhancing their mental arithmetic skills.