Math Activities! > Math GamesContents - 1 (+) 10-Out
- 2 Dice or Spinner Games
- 3 Paper and Pencil Games
- 4 Calculator Games
This is just a collection of some math games that we have learned to play in our classroom. They're fun and can be played at home just as easily! Need playing cards cheap? Take a look at the bottom of this page for a playing cards page, print them out, color the back, cut them out, and there you go! Easy! :) (+) = addition (x) = multiplication (d) = decimals
Card Games(+) 10-OutThis game is for 3 or fewer players. You need a deck with all the face cards removed. The objective: to be the first to get rid of all your cards! - The dealer gives each player 10 cards and puts the deck in the middle.
- On your turn, discard any pairs of cards or single card that has a value of 10 into a pile.
- For example: a six and a four, or a ten, or a three and a seven.
- Then you may ask the next player clockwise for one card. If she has it, she must give it to you. If you can make another ten, then you can put those cards in the pile.
- The next person clockwise is the next person to play.
- When everybody has had their turn (the dealer, too), each person takes one card from the deck in the middle.
- Play continues, going clockwise, until someone wins.
(+) Twenty-Five (25)This games is good with just about any number of players, but five or fewer makes it move faster. You need a deck with all the face cards removed. The objective: to get exactly to 25! - The dealer deals out all the cards face down. Play begins clockwise from the dealer.
- The next person adds his/her top card to the center of the table and says its value.
- The next person adds his/her top card to the center and says the center's value.
- Play continues from one player to the next.
- If a player's card takes the center's value over 25, then the next cards played are subtracted from the center's value until the center's value is once again below 25.
- If players run out of cards, the dealer picks up all the center cards, shuffles them, and deals them again. Play continues normally.
- When a player's card gets the center's value to exactly 25, the game is won and that person becomes the new dealer.
(+/x) SaluteThis game is for three people: a dealer and two players.You need a deck of cards. Ace= 1. All face cards= 10. The objective: to have the most cards in your stack! - The dealer shuffles all of the cards and places them face-down in a stack.
- The deal deals one card to each player.
- The dealer says 'SALUTE!' Each player places their card face-out on their forehead without looking at their own card.
- The dealer says the sum of the two cards.
- The first player to correctly say their card value wins the round and places their card and the other player's card in their stack.
- At the end of the deck of cards, the player with the greatest number of cards in their stack is the new dealer.
- To adapt for multiplication, the dealer says the product of the cards and the players identify their card as a factor of that product.
- In the classroom you should play with silent replies. The dealer has a whiteboard or piece of paper and each player has a marker that is capped. The first person to uncap his/her marker and write their correct card value is the winner.
You need a deck of cards. Ace= 1. All face cards= 10. - The dealer shuffles all the cards and deals them all out to the players. Do not look at your cards!
- The players each put down two cards and calculate their sum (add them).
- The player with the highest sum adds the difference between the two hands to his/her score. Then both players' hands go into the discard pile.
- When nobody has any more cards, the player with the greatest score is the winner!
- Option I: This game can be played with multiplication instead of addition. All you do is multiply the cards in a player's hand.
- Option II: Players can also decide before the game starts that the player with the lower hand adds the difference between hands to his/her score.
(x) Multiplication ZoneThis game for 2 to 4 players.
You need a deck of cards. Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12 and Kings 0 or 13.The objective: to be the first player to discard all the cards in his/her hand. - 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/her hand.
- Play continues until one player's hand is empty.
(+/-/x/÷) Build-A-NumberThis game for 2 to 5 players.
You need a deck of cards and paper for writing.If 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. The objective: make an equation that equals the target number using all five cards with any operations (+, -, x, ÷) to reach the target number. - Players agree on a target number between 1 and 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.
Dice or Spinner GamesYou need: Two 6-sided dice or two 10-sided dice (harder). The objective: to be the first to score 100 points or more. How to play: Players take turns rolling two dice and following these rules: - On a turn, a player may roll the dice as many times as he or she wants, mentally keeping a running total of the sums that come up. When the player stops rolling, he or she records the total and adds it to the scores from previous rounds.
- But, if a 1 comes up on one of the dice before the player decides to stop rolling, the player scores 0 for that round and it's the next player's turn.
- Even worse, if a 1 comes up on both dice, not only does the turn end, but the player's entire accumulated total returns to 0.
After students have had the chance to play the game for several times, have a discussion about the strategies that are helpful. Students can list their ideas and have them test different strategies against each other to try and determine the best way to play. 10 DownYou need: 2 dice (6 or 10 sided), 1 operation die, 10 counters or other objects, paper for recording scores. The objective: To have the most counters at the end of the game. How to play: - Place all 10 counters in a row between the players.
- Player 1 rolls all three dice and does the math problem in his head and then says it out loud and writes it down. All the remaining players do the same.
- Remember: when doing subtraction, the larger number needs to come first.
- The player with the highest value of that round takes a counter.
- Player 2 goes first in the next round.
- Players continue playing rounds until all the counters are gone. The winner is the one with the greatest number of counters.
(+/x) Target PracticeThis game is for two or three players. It is a lot like the game '25' except that you and your partner will decide on some other number besides 25 as your target. You need: 2 dice (different colors), paper for recording score, pencil The objective: To be the first person to have EXACTLY a target score. - Players must first decide which color die will represent ones and which color will represent numbers ending in zero. Then players must decide on a target number. The first time playing, your target should be some number between 1 and 3 thousand and must end with a zero (like 1000, 1050, 2000, 2090, etc.).
- Player 1 rolls both dice and multiplies them together. He then adds the product to his score.
- Players take turns building their scores.
- If someone goes OVER the target number, then his next products must be subtracted form his score until it is once again below the target number.
- The first player to land EXACTLY on the target score wins.
Paper and Pencil Games(alg) Coordinate Battleships(alg) Four In A Row(+/x) Log Jam(d) The Greatest WinsDecimal Nim (d)This game for two.You need: A calculator and one partner (optional: a 6 or 10 sided die). The objective: To be the first to reach 1 whole (the target) Purpose: Just like with kids' earlier work in trying to make combinations up to 10, this game reinforces that our decimal notation system works the exact same way. Kids anticipate and try to plot ways to get to 1.0 by adding or subtracting tenths (and later hundredths). How to play: [] Represents a button on the calculator. [+] is the addition button, [-] is the subtraction button, [2] is the number two button, and so on. Players alternate turns. - [] Represents a button on the calculator. On a turn, a player types in [+][.][1][=] or [+][.][2][=]. Then the player hands the calculator to their partner who takes his/her turn.
- Whoever causes the calculator to display 1. by pressing the [=] button is the winner of the game.
Option 1: Instead of adding up to 1, kids can start and 1 and subtract down to 0. Option 2: Instead of using 1 as the target number, students can roll a die and use that number as the target. This also works for subtracting down. Option 3: Instead of using only tenths, students can use hundredths (0.01 and 0.02). If you choose to play this way, you may want to use only 1 as the target because the game might take a very long time with larger numbers. |
Subpages (4):Coordinate Battleships!fourinarowLog JamThe Greatest Wins |
