In a moment of unexpected extra time, I invented a fun review game for addition. Caleb is so encouraging! He called it the funnest-est bestest game ever!
Here’s how to play the funnest-est bestest math game ever:
(We used Skip-bo cards, but you could probably play a variation of this with other card games.)
- I separated out the 10s, 11s, and 12s, and the Skip-bos, placing one 10, 11, and 12 in front of me and one each in front of him.
- Then I dealt 7 other number cards (numbers from 1-9) to each of us. (You can deal 10 cards once you get the hang of the game, or as many as you want.) The remaining number cards went into a draw pile, along with Skip-bos mixed in.
- We took turns trying to add numbers in our hand to equal sums of 10, 11, or 12, and then laying those cards down in front of their sum. For example, if Caleb had a 7 and a 5 in his hand, he could take those two and lay them down in front of his 12. You could play as many cards at a time as you wanted if they equaled the sum you placed them in front of (for example, 1+8+2=11).
- If you are left with a number(s) that doesn’t add up to 10, 11, or 12, you could draw from the pile. A Skip-bo acted as a wild card. You could name it to be any addend you needed to equal the sum, so long as you added correctly. (For example, if Caleb had a 7, and he drew a Skip-bo, he had to name it as a 3 to equal 10, or a 4 to equal 11, or a 5 to equal 12.)
- Whoever gets rid of the cards in his hand first wins!
You could make it harder by choosing just a 10, 11, or 12 to place in front.