Easy Card Games to Build Math Confidence
You don’t have to be quick at arithmetic to be good at math … but it certainly helps. Having arithmetic fact fluency frees extra brain space so students can focus more on the grade level content in class (“if 7 t-shirts cost $56, how much would 13 shirts cost?”) than trying to remember what is 56 divided by 7.
We are also in a golden age of board games - Settlers of Catan, Taco Cat Pizza, Exploding Kittens, Yeti Spaghetti - so there’s never been a cooler time to stay home and bust out some cards (or so I tell myself!). If you’re trying to build your math confidence or your student’s, here are some options that keep your Amazon cart light. All they require is a deck of cards and access to the rules, which can be found by calling your great uncle or making a quick google search!
Here are a couple of classic card games that tackle a number of math fluency skills:
Ninety-Nine (ages 8+; number of players 2-8; skill: addition/subtraction within 100)
This game is an absolute classic in my family, but if you ever play with my 96-year-old grandmother, she is ruthless. Players have to keep a running total as each card “adds” until you get to 99 (but not over, or you lose!). There are some trick cards that keep things interesting. This game can be quick (over in as little as 10 minutes) and gives players a chance to practice mental addition, as well as patience, turn-taking, and some strategy. The game does use poker chips to track how often someone has lost, but they can easily be replaced with objects such as paper clips, erasers, or the gross cereal that’s left after you’ve eaten all the lucky charms marshmallows. Check it out!
War (ages 3+; number of players 2-4; skill: adaptable!)
What I love about the card game of war is that it doesn’t require congressional funding to implement and that it can be adapted based on skill level. Instead of “largest number wins the hand” you can have players race to shout out the sum of the two flipped cards. Have a 3rd+ grader? Multiply the cards that are flipped, whoever says the product first keeps the hand. Alternatively, have them shout out the greatest common factor instead! Have a 6th+ grader? Make the red cards negative and the black positive, greater number wins, of course! Have a 7th+ grader? Now you can do sums or products but with negatives!
Cribbage (ages 10+, number of players 2 or 4; skill: summing across 10).
I lied to you. Cribbage is not an easy card game, but once you get the hang of it, cribbage is “easy” to love! See? It counts! It’s typically played with a peg board to keep score, but pencil and paper work fine, and provide greater addition practice. The key skill in this game is figuring out ways to score points through combinations, the easiest being finding cards in your hand or in the deal that can sum to 15. This may sound childish for a 10+ year old, but it’s hard work, and helps practice adding across 10. For example, what’s 7 + 8 go! One quick way to do this is to know 8 + 8 = 16, so since 7 is one less than 8, the sum is 15. Another way is to break 8 into 3 and 5, then combine the 3 to 7 to make 10, then add the extra 5 to total 15. As a 7th grade teacher, I have plenty of strong students who haven’t practiced mental addition since they “had to” in the younger grades, and it shows. Keep those muscles strong!
What card games am I missing that allow you to play with math? Find some family favorites that can be adapted or played as is to keep arithmetic fluency strong!
Ms. Coe