Free Printable Bug Graphing Dice

Ewww! It’s a bug! Or maybe you have more adventurous kids that would be saying, “How cool!” My girls flip flop every month or so on their love and hate for all things buggy. Rollie Pollies under a log? Cool. Spider crawling in the bathtub? Definite, Ew! But the friendly critters on this free printable bug graphing die are absolutely on the cute and fun list. We love using our graphing dice and this is a great one to add to our collection of themes.

Materials needed for the Free Printable Bug Graphing Activity:

Paper

Laminating pouch

Tape

Scissors

Small math counters such as foam blocks

To prep: Print the die and graph paper. Laminate the graph, so that it can be used multiple times. Cut out the die.

Fold the die template on the dotted lines and form into a cube. Use the tape to hold it together.

To use: Roll the die and put one game marker on the graph to show what was rolled. Continue until one of the columns reaches the top.

Because the die is so lightweight, it helps to give it a gentle toss up into the air to make it spin. My daughter loves that part!

Another suggestion is to build a lightweight block using building bricks to fill the inside of the cube for easier rolling.

After one of the bugs has reached the top of the graph, have your child record the data in a notebook or on a piece of paper. You can do the activity several times, like we did with the coin toss, to see if you get different results. You can then discuss with your child why the results changed. This is a good introduction to probability.

If you are working with a preschooler, you can count the number of times each bug was rolled. Then compare the numbers using the graph to show which numbers are greater or less.

Practice addition by selecting the results of two columns and adding them together. Or practice subtraction by subtracting a column with less rolls to find the difference.