Nifty Fifty Base 10 Race Game

About this resource

What's inside this resource

This resource is a Nifty Fifty Base 10 Race Game.

Here is a neat little game to practice place value, addition and subtraction. Each student will need 50 unifix cubes.

Students will play in pairs, so you will provide each player with their own game-board.

Directions are included for how to play the game.

Students will love this activity as they practice critical math skills.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Regroup ten ones into one ten while building a number toward 50 with unifix cubes
Decompose tens in the subtraction variant, starting from five rods of ten and removing cubes as the spinner directs
Add single-digit spinner amounts to a running cube total on a tens-and-ones board

Teaching tips

Print the gameboards on legal-sized paper and laminate them for durability, as the directions specify
Assemble each spinner with a brad and paper clip - the author's own method - before introducing the game
Once students are fluent racing to 50, join two sheets per player to extend the same rules to 100, per the author's note

Skills covered

Place-value regrouping - players decide each turn whether to trade ten ones for one ten and physically join the cubes and move them to the tens place.
Addition within 50 - every spin adds a single-digit number of cubes to the board's running total.
Subtraction with decomposing tens - the variant starts at 50 and students break rods of ten apart as they subtract what the spinner shows.
Partner game play - each player manages their own board and spinner, taking turns in a race to fill the tens column.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What happens on a single turn of the race?

A player spins their spinner, collects that number of unifix cubes, adds them to their board, and then decides whether they can trade ten ones for one ten - if so, they snap the cubes together and move the new rod to the tens place. Play passes back and forth until someone fills all their ten-column spaces.

Why does the race stop at 50 rather than 100?

The author explains the choice directly: building to 100 takes too long for a classroom round, and 50 fits practically on a legal-sized printed board. Joining two sheets turns it into a race to 100 when you want the longer game.

How does the subtraction version of the game work?

Players begin with five rods of ten unifix cubes - a full board of 50 - and subtract the number of cubes the spinner shows each turn, breaking rods apart to practise taking apart or borrowing tens.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

Place value
Regrouping
Base ten
Addition and subtraction

Topics

place value math center small group math games unifix cubes

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Categories this resource belongs to

Math Games 2nd Grade Place Value Activities Math Activities Math Games Popular Math Games 2nd Grade Activities

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