Clear the Board
Skill: Recognizing numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
Players: 2 or more
Materials: A deck of cards and two 6-sided dice
Goal: To clear all the cards
How to Play:
 Arrange the cards face up in an array of 7 by 7 (or smaller if need
be).
 Player 1 rolls both dice and adds them up
 Player 2 tries to eliminate 1 - 4 cards from the bottom row of the
array with a math sentence that equals the total rolled. (Ex: Player 1
rolls a 2 and 3. Total = 5. On the bottom row there is a 3, 8, 5, 1, 10, 4,
2. Player 2 can take the 5, OR he can add 3+ 2, OR he can subtract 83, OR he can multiply 5 x 1, OR he can divide 10/2, OR he can add 8+4=
12 / 2 = 6 – 1 = 5.)
 Continue playing until all the cards have been removed.
 The trick is that you cannot remove a card in the second row, until the
card in the first row has been removed. Play with strategy!
Foreheaded
Skill: Math vocabulary, recognizing numbers, odd & even, multiples, etc.
Players: 2 or more
Materials: Deck of cards
How to Play:
 Player 1 chooses a card from the deck and places it on his/her head.
He/she then asks questions to the audience to try and determine what
the number on his/her head is.
 The audience can only respond with yes/no answers.
Family Math Night Gample Games
Page 1 of 4
Cheryl Cantin & Rebecca Enright
Mathematics, Science &Technology Consultants, ETSB
Multiplication Zone
Skill: Multiplication, Strategy
Players: 2 or more
Materials: Deck of cards
How to Play:
 Each player takes 10 cards. Turns cards face up.
 From the center pile, a number is turned over and multiplied by 10.
This is the target decade.
 Players must try to find a multiplication sentence that equals that
target decade. Remove pair, and play again.
 The first player to use all 10 of his/her cards wins.
Sevens
Skill: counting, ordering, strategy
Materials: A deck of cards
Goal: To get rid of all of your cards before your opponents
How to Play:
 Deal all cards out evenly.
 Player 1 plays a 7 horizontally in the middle of the table. If Player 1
doesn’t have a 7, he/she skips his/her turn.
 Player 2 plays a 7, or a 6 or an 8 of the same suit as the original 7.
 Play continues as each player plays a card in sequential order of the
same suit on his/her turn.
 Finish and win the game when you have no more cards left in your hand
because you played them all on the board.
Family Math Night Gample Games
Page 2 of 4
Cheryl Cantin & Rebecca Enright
Mathematics, Science &Technology Consultants, ETSB
Spiral
Skill: Addition and Multiplication
Materials: Deck of Cards (ace = 1, jack = 11, queen = 12, king = 13), place
marker for each player, 6-sided die
Goal: To finish the board first.
How to Play:
 Build a spiral game board with all 52 cards, face up. Start in the
center and work your way out.
 Players each select a place marker and place it in the center of the
spiral on the very first card. This is the starting point.
 Each player takes a turn rolling the die. They must multiply the
number of the die times the value of the card they are on. If they are
correct, they may move ahead the number on the die. If incorrect,
they may not move.
 The first player to make it past the last card wins.
Spit
Skill: Recognizing numbers, ordering numbers, strategy game
Players: 2 or more
Materials: A deck of cards (A- King or A-10)
Goal: To get rid of all of your cards before your opponents
How to Play:
 Deal all the cards out evenly among the players.
 Each players places his/her top 5 cards face up in front of him/her.
 When everyone is ready, each player flips his/her top card and places
it on a pile on the table. Players can only place a card that is 1 more or
1 less than the card already played.
 If a player cannot go, he/she must take his/her top card and place it
at the bottom of his/her pile and continue to play.
 First player to get rid of all of his/her cards, WINS!
Family Math Night Gample Games
Page 3 of 4
Cheryl Cantin & Rebecca Enright
Mathematics, Science &Technology Consultants, ETSB
Twisted Addition Go Fish
Skills: Addition
Players: 2 or more
Materials: A deck of cards (Ace = 1, Jack, Queen and King are wild cards)
Goal: To get the most pairs.
How to Play:
 Deal out 5 cards per person. Remove any pairs that add up to equal 10.
 On your turn, ask a player for a specific card. Ex: “Chris, do you have
an 8 because 8+2 = 10?”
 If the player has the card, he/she must give it to you. If he/she does
not have the card, he/she tells you to go fish from the center pile.
 If you get a pair, you can ask again. If not, then play passes to the
next person.
24
Skills: mixed operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Players: 2 or more
Materials: cards (Ace = 1) through 10.
How to Play:
 Flip over 4 cards in a circle.
 Using +, -, x, and ÷ try to combine all 4 numbers for a total equaling
24. They may add, subtract, multiply or divide but they have to use all
4 cards only once each.
 Once you have a solution, knock on the table and record it.
 Once everyone is ready, share.
Family Math Night Gample Games
Page 4 of 4
Cheryl Cantin & Rebecca Enright
Mathematics, Science &Technology Consultants, ETSB