Critical thinking is an extremely important math skill. Challenge your child to put on his thinking cap in this game! Players may use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to arrive at answers. Anything goes, as long as it's mathematical! Your child will need to use mental math to combine numbers in a variety of ways. He'll be using more computation than with flash cards, and he'll improve his problem solving skills at the same time.
What You Need:
- One deck of playing cards (Print a deck)
- Paper and pencil (for recording scores)
What You Do:
- Remove 10s and face cards from the deck. (Keep aces. They will count as 0s.)
- Deal five cards to each player. Deal two cards face up in the center of the table.
- Players must select three cards from their hand that, when combined using any math operation, come close to or equal the number represented by the cards in the center of the table. (For example, if an ace and 5 are in the center of the table, the number represented is 15 or 51. In this case, a player may choose a 3, 5, and 2 to create the problem 53 - 2 = 51.)
- After players have selected their three cards, they should place them face up in front of themselves. Give players a minute or so to examine the other players' cards. If a player feels they will not win the round, they can fold (turn over their cards).
- Then, all of the players still in the game take turns explaining the math they used and what number their cards created. The player with the number closest to the number in the center of the table wins a point for every player who stayed in the game, including themselves. If there is a tie, both players score points.
- Discard all of the cards on the table, then replenish the players' hands.
- Play until the pack has been depleted. The player with the highest score wins.
Variation:
Change the difficulty of the game. Deal 1, 3, or 4 cards into the center of the table.
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