How to play Around the Spot

Around the Spot is played with three dice, a sheet of paper and something to write with. The game works for two to six players. The name comes from the fact that only the die faces with a spot in the centre count, that is 1, 3 and 5.

On your turn you roll all three dice three times. After each roll, note down points for every die showing a 1, 3 or 5. Dice showing 2, 4 or 6 give nothing, no matter how many of them there are.

After the third roll your turn is over, and the total of all three rolls is your score for the round.

The points follow the spots around the centre:

• 1: one point for the lone spot
• 3: two points, for the two spots around the centre spot
• 5: four points, for the four spots around the centre spot

If you roll three of a kind in 2s, 4s or 6s, your whole score for the turn is doubled, and the throw does not count as one of your three. Roll another such triple in the same turn, and the doubling is cancelled again.

Play four rounds. After the last one, each player adds up their scores, and the highest total wins. The numbers stay small, so kids can easily keep their own score.

The game is also known as Flower Petals: the centre spot is the flower, and the spots around it are the petals. If you want a longer game, play more rounds or keep going until someone passes 50 points.

Round the Clock and Beetle are other simple dice games that suit the same ages.

Look at a die: only 1, 3 and 5 have a spot in the middle of the face. That spot gave the game its name, and the points are simply the spots sitting around it. The rule is easy for children to remember, and the game makes a gentle first exercise in counting and adding small numbers.