Pick a Card,
Any Card ...
When
designing your own games, it's convenient to start with materials that
are already on hand. Almost any deck of playing cards - from
"regular" cards to Uno or Skip-Bo - can be easily used in designing
your own math game.
You can also
find decks that have specific themes which will appeal to your
child. For example, in our household we have Star Wars sets and Spider Man
sets. Younger kids, in particular, just
like looking at the pictures on the cards.
Children
also enjoy the physicality of card games; they like shuffling, dealing,
holding, and playing the cards.
Card
Arithmetic
The reason
that playing cards are a natural fit for math games is that they
generally contain several suits with numbers from 2-10 (aces can be
counted as 1's). This makes it easy to practice basic arithmetic facts with
cards.
To customize
your game, all you have to do is remove any numbers that have not been
learned (as well as face-cards). For example, if your child has
not learned the plus-seven facts, just take the sevens out of the deck.
Some Ideas
When I was
growing up, the family's favorite game was "Casino." The
object of this game is to catch tricks through matching or adding (e.g.,
a king will catch a king, and a nine will take a six and a three).
So, all those years I was playing a math game and didn't even know
it!
My vote for
best card-based math game goes to a solitaire called "Pyramid,"
which I've included in the "Games" section. In
"Pyramid," two cards adding up to a given number (like 10) are
removed from the board. This is great practice for the
"making ten" facts, which are particularly important.
For children
who are not ready for arithmetic yet, card matching games are
best. You could design your own memory game that uses two suits
(for example, spades and hearts).
The
possibilities are endless!
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