Have a deck of cards hiding somewhere at home? Here’s some maths activities you can do with them.
Who knew a humble deck of cards could be your secret weapon for maths practice? These activities are fun, fast, and will help them use the skills they have learnt and the ones they need to continue to practice.
Everyone has a pack of cards hidden away in a cupboard somewhere, right? And if not, you can easily, and cheaply, get a pack. Even if the pack you have is not the complete set, it doesn’t matter. Or it could be UNO cards. Same thing applies - you have a ready made maths resource, so lets look at ways you can use them.
I have a video up on YouTube which explain the majority of the following ideas, and you can access that here if you would prefer to watch, not read. (The cards portion of the video stats at 11 minutes 35 seconds.)
Here are some easy ways to use a deck of playing cards to help you child at home:
Numeral and number identification
Kindergarten: subitizing using the cards 1-4, creating and naming numbers up to 30, identifying the number before and after.
Year 1: numbers up to 99, creating the number before and after, creating and explaining the ‘teen’ numbers - 11 is 10 and 1 more, 12 is 10 and 2 more, etc, using the picture cards and 10 cards to count by 10s, partition two-digit numbers to show quantity values - 43 is 40(4 ten cards and 3 aces)
Year 2: create and explain 3-digit numbers, read and order numbers up to 999, make a number and identify the number before and after, the number 5 before and after, 10 before and after, 100 before and after, round numbers to the nearest 10
Year 3: Represent numbers up to and including thousands, read and order numbers of up to at least 4 digits, make a number and identify the number before and after, the number 10 before and after, 100 before and after, round to the nearest 10 or 100 to numbers
Year 4: Create then arrange numbers in the thousands in ascending and descending order, create, read and explain numbers up to 6 digits, round to the nearest 100, 1000, 10 thousand or 100 thousand to numbers,
Year 5 & 6: Recognise, represent and read numbers in the millions, and up to 1 billion, arrange numbers in the millions in ascending and descending order, round to the nearest thousand, 10 thousand, 100 thousand or million to numbers
Snap - obviously there’s the original, but what about adding the numbers that are ‘snapped’, or multiplying them?
Deal a number of cards and make the largest or smallest number possible. You will need to get rid of the picture and 10 cards for this one. Depending on the age and stage of your child, the number of cards dealt will be different, but start small and build from there. Compare the numbers and decide on a ‘winner’. You can also discuss the difference between two sets of cards and the total of the two sets.
Deal a number of cards, create and discuss the second largest/smallest number. This one for Year 3 or 4 and up. Start by making the largest number, then make the other. This can be tricky as kids tend to swap the cards with the two highest, or lowest, values, but this means they are looking at the digits in isolation rather than the number as a whole. When they look at the number as a whole, and talk through their thinking, they will soon realise their mistake and rectify it.
Use them as a random generator for addition and multiplication facts. Here you could decide to include the picture cards and assign a value to them, eg: 20. You could also decide how many cards you will deal out to each person. I’d start small and build from there.
Use them as a random generator for subtraction facts. Again, decide whether to include the picture cards and/or assign a value to them, eg: 20. It’s important here, particularly with children in K - 4, perhaps even 5, that you get them to focus on subtracting the smaller number from the larger number, otherwise we get into negative numbers and this isn’t covered until Stage 3 because they are not yet ready for that ‘mind blowing’ concept. You know your child best so if you believe they are, go for it - delve into negative numbers, but if you’re not sure, stick with positive numbers.
You could also deal 4 cards each and from those, create 2 two-digit numbers, and find the difference. The person with the greatest difference (or smallest) ‘wins’.Use them to talk about multiplication fact families. 2 cards - 4 facts. Fact families are the 4 related facts that come from 2 numerals. For example, if we are dealt a 5 and a 9, we can discuss that we have 5 x 9 = 45, 9 x 5 = 45, 45 divided by 5 is 9 and 45 divided by 9 is 5. Obviously, you’ll need to be careful about which mathematical language you use, because the language of division and multiplication isn’t formalised until Stage 2, but you can use ‘groups o'f’ and ‘shared by/between’. You could use counters or pasta or coins, for example, to show the related facts using an array, or record it on paper or on a whiteboard to show their thinking, which is a really important part of their learning journey in maths.
Maths Memory: The original game is a good place to start - matching cards with the same value … but why not trying mixing it up with addition. You may need to decide on whether to use the picture cards, and whether the joker can be a ‘wild’ card, or a certain number if you include them, but - pick a total, let’s use 20, and then you ‘collect’ the cards that create that number through addition - it could be 2 cards, or 3, or 4…or you could choose a range that the total falls into - for example, between 20 and 30. You could also use multiple operations. For example, if the total was 20, and you find 2, 7 and 6 - you could make it (2 x 7)+6. A bit more complicated, but a great challenge for the older ones!
Another Multiplication game: Decide whether it is going to be highest total wins, or lowest. Each player is dealt two cards that are not shown to the others, yet. Each player multiplies the numbers on their cards. The ‘winner’ gets to keep the cards, and you keep playing until all cards are gone. Add another twist, deal 3 cards.
As always, use these games as a vehicle to talk about maths. Talk about your thinking and encourage your child to do the same. This opens up the opportunity to use the mathematical language they need to practice and use and also utilise the strategies that they are learning and talking about at school.
If you’d like some help to know exactly how to do this, then I can help.
After all, it’s what I do.
My Takeaway Tip? Keep a deck of cards in your bag, or in the car for screen-free entertainment that builds number sense on the go.
If you are looking for help, now, or for next year, I encourage you to have a look around the website, then send me an email and we can chat. I’d love to help.
