Math Strategies
An ordinary deck of cards or set of dice can be an amazing resource for
all your basic math skills. Below are some great ways to have family game
night double as student learning night! Using cards and dice is a cheap
and convenient way of reinforcing math skills. You probably have some
lying around the house...if not just drop buy the dollar store and pick
some up!
Here is how you play 99....
1. Deal 3 cards to each person. The rest of the deck is used to pick up a card
every time you lay one down.
2. Each person starts with 3 coins or chips (we use dollars with adults)
3. Each person needs a paper showing them the four special cards:
3= automatic 99
4= reverse play
10= plus or minus 10
9= skip the next person.
(You really want to hold these cards till you really need them)
4. Face cards are worth 10, Aces worth 1, number cards worth their value.
5. Each person lays down a card adding to the one before until they reach
99. When a person can't go any more. They lose and are have to put in one of
their three coins.
6. Keep playing until you are down to 2 people who have coins left to play. Last
person to win with a coin still left wins. You can probably just do one round
without any coins to move faster.
Multiplication War
1. Divide the deck in half.
2. Just as you do in war you count to three and each player throws down a card.
3. The first one to yell out the correct answer when you multiply the two
numbers, wins both cards.
4. Kings= 12, Queens=11, Jacks=10, Aces=1
(ex: a jack and a 9 have been laid down. The first to yell out 90 gets both
cards, because 9 X 10 is 90)
5. The first one to get the entire deck wins the game.
Round Up
1. Using the game map attached turn over any four cards. (you can adjust the
difficulty level by only laying down 2 or 3 cards)
2. Have your child round to the nearest 10, 100, or 1,000.
*The same mat can be used to write the number in standard, word, and expanded
form.
Digit Cards-Using the digit cards attached.
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Build the largest number you can.
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Build the smallest number you can.
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Build a number less than 800.
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Build a number greater than 800.
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Build a number that is between 300 and 500.
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Build a different number that is between 300 and 500.
Repeat with different digits and different directions.
Factor Blaster-Using digit cards attached
• Play as partners or as two teams.
• Team A chooses a number. That number is eliminated from the
playing board and Team A earns that many points.
• Team B must identify all the factors of Team A's number that are
still on the board. Team B earns points equal to the sum of
these numbers.
• Now Team B picks any number still on the board and earns that
many points. Team A must identify all the factors of Team
B's numbers still on the board to earn the sum of those points.
• Play continues until no numbers remain on the playing board.
• Teams A and B total their points.
The team with the most points wins.
*Dice Games*Just like playing cards, ordinary dice make a great resource for
all kinds of math skills! You can play many of the same games
that you play with cards, but with dice.
Roll and RoundRoll the dice to fill in the number blanks, then round to given
places. (sheet attached)
Facts Practice:
Roll the dice and multiply the two numbers rolled. The first to
yell out the correct answer gets a point. Play until someone
reaches 20.
The Game of Pig (Grades 3–8)
Math concepts: This game for two or more players gives students practice with mental addition
and experience with thinking strategically.
The object: to be the first to score 100 points or more.
How to play: Players take turns rolling two dice and following these rules:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 playing the game several times, have a discussion about the strategies used.
Divide and Conquer!
For this game the players will need paper pads and pencils. The leader
rolls up to six dice at once. Players try to add up the dots and be the
first to call out the total. Now everyone writes the number as their
dividend. The leader then throws one die. The players try to divide the
last into the dividend. The first to call out the correct answer wins and
gets roll the dice for the next problem.
Subtract The Dots!
Start with by throwing two of the dice. Now roll the third. Subtract
mentally the second number from the first. Increase the difficulty by
progressing from three dice to three and one, then three and two,
then four and two, etc.