Shove Ha’penny – Rounding Numbers (Yr5)

Aim of the Game:

This is a version of a game I used to play as a child, called Shove Ha’penny.  It will help children to practise rounding numbers.  

What do you need?

• Number cards/magnets/dice (to generate a number)
• A milk bottle top
• Some tape to stick to the table.
• Place Value Chart – download here

How to Play:

• Set up equally spaced lines with ‘nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10000’ written on each line.  

There are two ways to play this game: .

• Children pick some digits from a bag and build a number with it.
• Then ‘shove’ the milk bottle top and whichever gap it falls in, they must round their number and write their answer down.
• They could be given three attempts to try to round their number in three different ways and score points accordingly. 

Or …

• Player one writes a number and then rounds the number (without revealing which multiple of 10 it has been rounded to).
• Player two has to work out what the number has been rounded to and ‘shove’ the milk bottle top to the correct section of the game board.