Download Math Card Games

Math Card Games
HI-LO MATH CARD GAME
A Math game for Two Students with three game versions
Materials needed: a regular deck of cards
Rules:
 Take a regular deck of cards and pull out all of the face cards.(These will not be needed for the game)
 Have two students sit across from each other. Shuffle the deck and deal out all cards evenly between both players. Keep the
cards face down in a pile.
 At the same time, each student draws two cards from their own pile. Their job depending on the game version (see below)
picked, is to have a high or low card combination to win.
 The person with the highest/lowest number wins the cards (4 cards each round)
 The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the "winner".
Three game versions that can be played:
Place Value Game:
Example: Player #1 draws: 3 and 6. The highest number that can be created is 63.Player #2 draws: 4 and 8. The highest number
that can be created is 84.84 is greater than 63, so Player #2 keeps all four cards.(Or play it so lowest combination wins!)
Addition Game:
Example: Player #1 draws: 3 and 6. The sum of these cards is 9. 3+6 = 9
Player #2 draws: 4 and 8. The sum of these cards equal 12. 4+8=12
12 is larger than 9, so Player #2 keeps all four cards.
Subtraction Game:
Example: Player #1 draws: 3 and 6. The difference of these cards equal 3. 6-3 = 3
Player #2 draws: 4 and 8. The difference of these cards is 4. 8-4=43 is less than 4, so Player #1 keeps all four cards.
Your child probably knows that two plus two equals four. But what does it take to get to seventeen? Try this card game to explore all
the possibilities, build math fact skills, and have a great time while you’re at it.
Seventeen
What You Need:
 1 deck of playing cards
 1 sheet of plain paper for a scorecard
 Scrap paper and a pencil for each player/mathematician
What You Do:
1. Prepare your materials. Start with your deck of cards. You will need all aces (each counts as “1’), and all numbered cards
between 2 and 8. Make sure you pull out all nines, tens, jacks, queens, and kings. You can save them for more advanced
games later.
2. While this game can be played by up to four players, you’ll probably want to start with just two. Shuffle your number cards
and put them face down on a table. Then have each player pull out five cards. Take turns putting cards down, one at a time,
and counting the total made when you add the pile together.
3. “Winning” and “Losing”: The goal is to get as close to 17 as possible. Let’s say, for example, that Player 1 puts down a “7”
card, and then Player 2 puts down a “5” card. If Player 1 can add another “5,” she wins the round and gets a score of 17!
That’s the clean way to win a round. But she can also win if she goes slightly over—say, to 19—but she must subtract the
extra “2” from her score, so she only gets 15 points. The goal of the game (aside from complete Math Facts Mastery, of
course!), is to have the largest number of points when the game is done.
Multiplication Math War
Play this fun card game with your child and before long those annoying multiplication facts will be part of her mathematical skill set.
Besides strengthening multiplication skills, this game also provides practice in comparing numbers.
What You Need: -Deck of cards -A kitchen timer
What You Do:
1. Shuffle the deck of cards and deal them face down, giving each player an equal number of cards until the deck runs out.
Each player keeps his cards in a stack. Assign picture cards, such as jacks, queens, and kings, a value of 10. Give aces a
value of either 11 or 1.
2. Demonstrate to your child how to play the game: Each player turns two cards face up, reads the number sentence and
supplies the answer. For example, if your child draws a 5 and a 4, he says 5 x 4 = 20. If you draw a 7 and an 8, then your
number sentence is 7 x 8 = 56. Because your product is larger, you win the four cards and you put them at the bottom of
your pile.
3. If each of you has a number sentence with the same product, then it's war! Each player puts four cards face down and turns
up two of them. The player with the largest product wins the eight cards.
4. Set up the timer and play the game for 10 to 15 minutes. When the bell goes off, each player counts his cards. The player
with the most cards wins. If one player runs out of cards before time is up, then the other player wins.
5. Say no to boring "drill and kill". Get your game on! Multiplication Math War is an enjoyable way to spend time with your child
while strengthening his math skills.
Make 10
Remove the face cards from a deck. Deal 12 cards face up. Players take turns finding and removing combinations of cards that add
up to 10. When both the players agree that no more tens are possible, more cards are dealt. This game helps students recognize
parts of 10, an important step in learning to add and subtract base 10 numbers.
Missing addend "mind reading"
In this game for three players, one student is the leader and the other two are the players. The two players each draw a card and,
without looking at it, hold it up to their foreheads so that everyone else can see it. The leader announces the sum of the two cards.
Each player must figure out which card is on his or her own forehead. When both players have figured out their cards, a new leader
is chosen and the game continues. Try playing this game with four or five players for a challenge!
Missing factor "mind reading"
This is identical to the previous game, except the leader announces the product of the cards. A nice feature is that all players get
practice with products and factors in every round.
Build a number
When playing this game with younger children, remove the face cards; with older kids, make Jacks worth 11, Queens 12 and Kings
13. If your deck has Jokers, make them worth 0.
Each group of 2-5 students selects a target number from 1-30. Five cards are then flipped face up, and the object is for
students to make a number sentence using all five cards with any operations to reach the target number.
For example, suppose the target number is 20 and the cards in play are 5, 5, 6, 2, and Ace (worth 1). One winning
combination is: 5 x 2 + 5 + 6 - 1 = 20. Another is (6 x 5) - (2 x 5 x 1). Also, (6 ÷ 2) x 5 + (5 x 1) works, as do many more.
The first player to find a winning combination keeps the cards and chooses the next target number. If no combination is
found in about a minute, flip over another card and try to make a combination using six cards.
To keep the game fair for players of different abilities, introduce the rule that if a player hasn't made a combination in three
rounds, he or she may make combinations using four of the five cards; other players must use five.
Multiplication zone
This game for two to four players encourages the use of multiplication facts and estimation. Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12 and
Kings 0 or 13. Each player is dealt 10 cards.
A card from the remaining stack is flipped face up. Its value is multiplied by 10, and players try to find a pair of cards whose product
is in that "decade." For example, if the flipped card is a six, then the zone is any number in the sixties (60-69), so a winning pair
would be 9 and 7 (product 63) or 12 and 5 (product 60), etc. Any player who can make a pair removes those cards from his or her
hand. Play continues until one player's hand is empty.
Memory
This classic game for two to four players builds visual memory and spatial reasoning. Arrange the cards face down, as shown below.
Players take turns turning over a pair of cards. If the numbers match, the player wins the two cards and takes another turn. If the
cards don't match, they're flipped face down and the next player has a turn.
Here are three variations:
Half Deck: Split a deck into two groups, one with hearts and clubs, one with spades and diamonds. Players use one of these
half decks to match a red card with the black card of the same value.
Two of Four: Deal all 52 cards face down. Players try to match two cards of the same value. Since there are four cards of
each value, this game moves quickly.
Full Monty: All 52 cards are used, but two cards only count as a pair if they match in value and color. This lengthy game is
perfect for rainy recesses!
Fish for Ten
3 or more players
May need to use 2 decks of cards
Remove the tens and all face cards from the deck(s). Leave the Aces and all number cards from 2-9. Aces are worth 1 for this
game. Deal 7 cards to each of the players. The rest of the cards are placed in the center for the “go fish” pile. The object of the
game is to make a total of 10 using 2 cards (9 + 1, 8 + 2, etc). If you have any 10’s in your hand, you place them face up on the
table. The game begins with the first person to the left of the dealer. Player 1 asks any other player for a card that will help make a
ten using a card held in his/her hand. Example: If player 1 is holding a 3, he would ask another player for a 7. If the other player
has the card that was asked for, he gives it to player 1. Player 1 continues to ask for cards from any player until that person doesn’t
have what was asked for. At this time, the other player would say “Go Fish” and Player 1 would draw a card from the center pile.
Should Player 1 draw the card that was asked for he/she says “Fish, Fish, I got my wish” and Player 1 would get to go again.
Otherwise, play continues with the next player in clockwise order (Player 2). The game is over once one player runs out of cards.
The player with the most sets of 10 wins the game.