Math Card Games

Skill: Numbers that make 10 (See variations below)

Deal each player five cards. Place the stack of remaining cards face down in the middle of the table. This is the “Go Fish” pile. Before beginning players look for pairs of cards in their hand with a sum of 10. Place all pairs with a sum of 10 face up on the table in front of you. Draw from the Go Fish pile to replace the cards so players still have five cards in their hands. As in traditional Go Fish, players take turns asking each other for their desired card. Players want pairs to make the sum of 10. If a player gets the card they asked for, they put the pair down on the table and pick a new card from the deck. If they do not get the card they asked for, the player must “Go Fish” and pick a new card from the deck. If the new card from the deck makes 10 with a card in the player’s hand, they put the pair of cards down and get another turn. If they do not get the card they wanted, play passes to the next player. If a player runs out of cards, they pick two new cards. A player’s turn is over when they can no longer make 10. The game is over when there are no more cards, or no more pairs can be made. Variations: · Simplify complexity by only using A-5 cards and play Go 5! · Increase complexity by playing with sets of three cards that equal 20 (each player dealt 8 cards instead of 5)

Skill: Adding and Subtracting within 20

Each player turns over 4 cards. From their cards, each player picks two cards that add up as close as possible to 13. They record the sum, then determine how far away their total is from 13. (e.g. if the two cards add to 11, their score is 2). Each player records the difference on the score card. Play repeats for 5 rounds. Points are totaled at the end of 5 rounds. The player with the lowest score wins. Variations:

· change lucky number

· use any combination of cards to add to 13 (e.g. player could use all four cards)

· change to multiplication with a greater lucky number such as 24

Skill: Addition Facts Without 20

Materials Needed: Deck of cards, Remove kings and jacks. (Queen = 0, Ace = 1) Split deck evenly between all players. At the same time, all players turn over two cards and calls out

Identify a factor and place a card with that number faceup in the middle. Players divide up the rest of the cards equally, shuffle them and place them facedown. At the same time, both players take a card from the top of the deck and determine the product of their card and the factor in the middle. Each partner takes turns saying the full multiplication sentence and both decide if the products are correct. The player who correctly states the greater product gets both players’ cards (middle card stays). If there is a tie, “war” is declared, and partners repeat the process with the winner taking all the played cards. Play until one player has no cards or time limit. The player at the end with the most cards wins.

Variations:

· Play fixed addition war instead of fixed factor to practice adding a specific number

Skill: Using ALL operations to generate equations that equal 0

Materials Needed: Deck of playing cards with face cards removed, whiteboard, marker

Played in groups of 2-4 players. Goal is to generate equations equal to 0. Each player turns over 5 cards. Players then use these cards to create equations that equal zero and write their equation on their whiteboard. They may use any number of cards and any of the four operations. The person who can use the most cards in their equation wins.

Variations:

· Players can work together as a team or play as teams

· Change the target from zero to another number

· Give bonus points for equations that use division