Prime Numbers Game

How quickly do you notice prime numbers? Practice in this fun card game! As you race to slap the prime numbers, you’ll develop speed and understanding. Slap Happy is a good game for 2-4 players, and it gets a little bit more exciting with more players! Study the first few prime numbers as you prepare to play. Remember the value of an Ace is 1, a Jack is 11, a Queen is 12, and a King is 13.

Term to Know:

Prime Number: a number with no factors excepting itself and 1 (The first several prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 13. The number 1 is not a prime number and is instead classified as a unit.)

What You Need:

• One deck of playing cards (Print a deck.)

What You Do:

1. Shuffle the cards and distribute them, one at a time, face down, to the players. All players must keep their cards face down, in a pack.
2. Each round consists of all the players turning over the first card in their pack in an outward motion, giving every player a fair chance of seeing all of the cards being played.
3. When a prime is played, the first player to slap the stack takes the prime and all of the other cards in the stack. If there is a tie, the hand on or closest to the prime wins the cards. If there is no prime, leave the cards in the center of the table until they are won.
4. After a player wins cards, they must shuffle them into their deck before the game can continue.
5. Play until one player has all the cards or time is called.
6. The winner of the game is the player with the most cards.

Variations:

• Consider having younger players slap the 5, 10, Jack, etc.
• Change the rules so that players must slap multiples of a certain number instead of primes. (For example, multiples of 3 = 3, 6, 9, and 12.)