Hi Friends! Ever Wonder how to make math more engaging?
All you need is a deck or two of playing cards to turn learning into fun! Try your hand at some of these awesome playing card math games.
Number battles are fun, simple math games where kids can review various skills using a deck of playing cards. The following cards have a designated value: the Ace is worth 11, the Jack is worth 12, the Queen is 13 and the King is 14. Split the deck between players and flip the top three cards. Whoever has the highest sum wins the whole hand. In the event of a stalemate, both players put their cards in a pile and play best of two. The same rules can apply to subtraction, multiplication, fraction, or integer number battles by changing red cards to represent negative numbers and black cards to represent positive. The player who collects all of the cards wins!
Remove all face cards from a deck of playing cards and assign the Ace a value of one. Stack cards face up in a pyramid shape starting with a single card at the top, then two beneath it and three beneath that card. Continue until there are six cards at the bottom of the pyramid. Start by discarding pairs of exposed cards that equal 10 when combined. The game can be made more difficult by discarding any variation of cards that equal ten (such as 5+7-2). The game ends when all possible tens have been discarded. Kids can play the game alone or race against others to complete the challenge.
Remove the face cards and lay out a 4 x 4 playing board of cards. Remaining cards (or another deck) are placed face down, and a caller flips over a card. Any player who has that number on their board turns the card face down. Play continues until one player has a row flipped over horizontally, vertically, or diagonally and calls “Bingo!”
Simple math card games can help kids learn how to put numbers in order. To play builder’s paradise, discard the face cards and lay out the 4 sevens in a deck side by side. In each round, players work to add the next higher or lower number in each suit, trying to be the first to get rid of all their cards.
Give your flash cards a rest and practice facts with math card games instead. Simply lay down two cards from the deck (remove the face cards first) then add, subtract, multiply, and divide them. Kids can work on this alone, or you can make it a contest to see who can call out the correct answer first.