Dice facts for kids
Dice are objects used in games when something random needs to be done, such as moving a game piece a random number of places on a board. Most dice are cubes that have the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on the faces. Dice are sometimes made in other polyhedral shapes than cubes, but the six-sided die (die is the singular of "dice") is the most common. A die is usually rolled by the player’s hand. When adding together opposite sides of typical cubical dice, the sum is always 7.
Some games are played with two or more dice and some use only one. Some games that use dice are Monopoly, Yahtzee, Risk, and many more. Dice with different numbers of sides, like those used in Dungeons & Dragons, are called polyhedral dice.
Weights can be put inside a die to make it only land on a certain number once it is rolled.
Images for kids
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Composite image of all sides of a 12mm (½") Roman die, found in Leicestershire, England
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Knucklebones die, made of steatite
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Twenty-sided serpentinite die from Ptolemaic Egypt
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Western, Asian, and casino dice
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Medieval People at Play, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
![]() | Hypatia |
![]() | Agnodice |
![]() | Aglaonice |
![]() | Mary the Jewess |