Games/Activities with a Deck of Cards

• Greater Than/Less Than: This is best played with 2 players, but it can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, Jack, and Ace cards. Put the cards face down in a pile. Each person flips a card over. Determine the highest number. The person with the greater number keeps all the cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner. Challenge:  Make your own cards with higher numbers or use the number cards under the student resource tab.
• Ordering Numbers: Take out the King, Queen, Jack, and Ace cards. Put the cards face down in a pile. Pull 3 or 4 cards. Put them in order from smallest to greatest or greatest to smallest. Challenge: Make your own cards with higher numbers or use the number cards under the student resource tab.
• Adding Numbers: This is best played with 2 players, but it can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, Jack, and Ace cards. Put the cards face down in a pile. Each person picks two cards and adds them together. The person with the larger sum keeps all the cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner. Challenge: Add the face cards back in and make them worth 10.
• Making 10: This is best played with 2 players, but it can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, and Jack cards. Use the Ace cards as a 1. Deal 10 cards face up in a row. Each player takes turns finding and removing combinations of cards that equal 10 (Example: Ace and 9, 10 by itself, 3 and 7, etc.) After cards are removed, add more cards so there are always 10 cards facing up.
• Memory: This game can be played with 2-4 players. Take out the King, Queen, Jack, and Ace cards. Put the cards face down in an array. Take turns flipping two cards over at a time. If the cards match, the player keeps the cards and goes again. If they do not match, turn them back over and let the next player take a turn. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

Other Activities

• Ten Frames: Use a ten frame and materials from home (beads, pom-poms, cereal, Skittles, etc. Just be sure you have two different colors.) to practice making all the combinations of 10 (Example: 1+9=10, 2+8=10). Challenge: Use two ten frames and practice all the ways to make 20.
• Number/Dot Cards: Look at the dot cards and say how many you see. Try to do it without counting. Talk about the patterns you see. You can also match the dot cards to the number cards. Start with 1-10. When you are ready, do it with numbers 11-20.
• Number Chart: Count forwards and backwards by fives and tens using the number chart. Talk about the patterns you see.
• Counting Collection: Take an inventory of something in your house. (Example: silverware, legos, books, socks, art supplies, etc). Make an inventory sheet where you show how many items you have. What do you have the most of? What do you have the least of?

Games/Activities with a Deck of Cards

• Place Value War: This game is best with 2 players. Take out the King, Queen, Jack, and 10 cards. Use the Ace card as a 1. Put the cards face down in a pile. Each player selects 2 cards. They make the highest number possible with their cards (For example, if you pulled a 3 and a 9, the highest number possible would be 93). The person with the highest number created wins all the cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins. Challenge: Select 3 cards instead of 2.
• Multiplying Numbers: This game is best with 2 players but can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, and Jack cards. Use the Ace cards as a 1. Put the cards face down in a pile. Each person picks 2 cards and multiplies them together. The person with the larger product keeps all the cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
• Making 20: This game is best with 2 players but can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, and Jack cards. Use the Ace cards as a 1. Deal 10 cards face up in a row. Each player takes turns finding and removing combinations of cards that equal 20 (Example: an Ace, 9, and 10; 10 and 10, or a 7, 7 and a 6, etc.) After cards are removed, add more cards so there are always ten cards facing up.
• I Spy: This game is best with 2 players but can be played with more. Take out the King, Queen, and Jack cards. Use the Ace cards as a 1. Lay all the cards face up in an array. Find 2 cards next to each other, either vertically or horizontally, that make a sum. The first player says “I spy 2 cards with the sum of ____.” The other player looks for their sum and removes the two cards. Then the next player goes. When you can no longer make a sum, rebuild the array and play again. Challenge: Play the game with multiplication.
• Guess My Number: This game is best with 3-4 players. Take out the King, Queen, Jack, Ace, and ten cards. 1 person pulls 2 cards and makes a number of their choice (Example: If you choose a 6 and a 2, the person can make either 62 or 26). The other player/s ask yes or no questions to try and guess the number. Ask questions, such as, Is there a six in the tens place? Is the number larger than 50? Is it an even number? Do the sums of the numbers make 8?

Other Activities

• Hundreds Chart: Use a number chart to count by twos, fives, and tens. Talk about what patterns you see.
• Roll It: 2 or more players take turns rolling 2 dice. Find the sum of the two dice and record it on a piece of paper. The first person to 100 wins.
• Place Value Roll: This game is best with 2-3 players. Using the Place Value Chart and a dice, each player will roll the dice 3 times, trying to make the smallest number possible. Write the numbers in the correct place value spot on the board. Let the next player go. After 10 turns, add your sums. The person with the smallest sum is the winner. Challenge: Try rolling the dice 4 times and use the thousands place.
• Closest to 20: This game is best with 2-3 players. Using 5 dice and a paper and pencil to record, each player will try to get a sum as close to 20 as possible, without going over. You will have 4 turns per round. You may keep or re-roll any of the dice you want. After the fourth roll, add the sum of all your dice. If you go over twenty, you get a score of zero. If you are below 20, record the total. Each person plays 9 rounds. The winner is the person with the largest score at the end of the game.
• 101 and Out: This game is best with 2-3 players. The object of the game is to score as close to 101 without going over or “out.” Make 2 or 3 columns on a piece of paper with the name of each player on top. You will use this to keep a running record of your totals. To play, players will take turns rolling the dice. As you roll, you can either take the number as a 1 or a 10. (For example, if you roll a 5, you could take it as a 5 or 50. If it’s your first roll you would want to record 50, if you already have 51 points or more, you would want to take a 5). Then the next player will roll and record their number. Pay attention to what you pick because if you go over 101 you lose. Keep a running record of your total as you play, by adding each number rolled to your existing sum. The person who gets closest to 101 without going over is the winner! Challenge: Play the game with a higher number, like 250!
• Roll, Double, Color: This game may be played 1 or 2 players. Each player will create their own playing card. First, fold a sheet of paper into 16 boxes. Then, each player will randomly choose 16 different numbers (using numbers 2-24), write one of the 16 numbers chosen on each box. Next, take turns rolling 2 dice, add up the sum on the 2 dice rolled and double the sum (Example: If you rolled a 5 and a 6, your sum would be 11, when doubled it becomes 22 and that number (if on my playing card) would be colored in). Continue playing the game, until one player has colored in all of the boxes on their playing card. Challenge: Choose numbers 7-27 for your playing card, and instead of just doubling your sum, double the sum and add 3 more (Example: If you rolled a 3 and a 5, your sum would be 8, when doubled it is 16, then add 3 more and it is 19).