Number Line Battleship
Math Concepts
Number line from 1 to 12, distances on the line
Materials
Paper, pencil, two tokens (optional)
Players
2
Set up
Each player has two number lines, one for their battleships and one for their guesses. These number lines are drawn on paper and go from 0 to 12. Out of sight, on their battleship number line, each player places tokens or marks on two numbers that will be their battleships.
Play
The players take turns guessing numbers. When a player makes a guess, the other player says how close the guess was to the nearest target- the guesser then marks down that information on their second number line.
Goal
The first person to get all their opponent’s targets wins.
Discussion and Tips
Discuss good locations for battleships. Is it better to use the ends or the middles of the number line? Is it better to put the ships close together or far apart?
Discuss ideas for initial guesses. Is it better to start with a guess in the middle or one of the ends?
Variations
For older children, use longer number lines and more ships.
The response to a guess can be a range of distances rather than an exact amount. For example: “the nearest ship is 1 or 2 away.”
Have ships that are two or three spaces in length.