The Voyage of the Mayflower! A "Roll-the-Dice" Historical Activity

This “roll-the-dice” activity and game of chance is a fun companion to a unit or lesson on the journey of the Pilgrims to the “New World” onboard the Mayflower. Students will roll the dice as they move from box to box along the gameboard. The goal is to make it to Plymouth in Massachusetts in the fewest turns possible.

Time required: One 1-hour (or so) class period.

Pre-requisite: The students should have a basic understanding of the Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and perhaps the Plymouth Colony before playing the game.

Materials included:

*A “Journey of the Mayflower” gameboard map with geographic labels.

*Discussion and debriefing questions for both pre- and post-activity.

*A “Dice Roll Results” page.

*A “Chart your journey” page for the students to keep track of their progress.

*A “Journey of the Mayflower by the Numbers” mathematics page (with answers for teachers).

Materials you will need:

*Game pieces for all your teams (pennies work well. So do Bingo chips).

*Dice for all your teams (two six-sided die per team).