When I first started teaching 18 years ago, kids commonly knew how to play these card games. Unfortunately, a lot kids do not know how to play them anymore. The good news is, they are pretty simple games to learn. Once students learn the rules, you can play them with number cards, like I am showing, letter cards, or sight word cards. We practice playing these games in small group, with an adult first (this is a great game for a parent volunteer). Once they have played with an adult once or twice, it will quickly become a great independent game. You can use any cards that you have. You can change them seasonally to make it feel like a brand new game. You can get my number cards FREE here. They include ten frames, dot cards, and number cards.
Memory
To play memory, print two sets of cards. I recommend you print on colored cardstock. Regular paper and white paper tend to be see through. Teach students to put the cards in an array, upside down. They flip two cards, without removing them from the array (this is a hard concept for some students). If they match, they keep the pair. If they do not match, they flip them back over and the next student goes. For students that have moved beyond matching, they can make a five or make a ten. If you are playing make a 5, 1 and 4 would be a match. This is a great way to work on math fluency.
Go Fish
Go Fish a a fun way to work on Math Skills. Print out 2 set of cards. You can start by having students find matches. Do you have a 3? Go Fish. This a great for number identification and subitizing, if you include the dot and number cards. For an added challenge, have students make group of 5 or 10. If a student has a 3, they ask for a 7 to make a 10. This is another fun way to develop number sense and practice fluency.
War
War is a great way to work on more then and less then. This game has a greater level of difficulty and may require a few more rounds with an adult in order to play independently. I recommend printing multiple sets of number cards for this game. Go Fish and Memory can be played in small group of 2-4, but War needs to be played with two students. pass out all of the cards.
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The cards I used for the games above are from a FREE Math Center you can download in my TPT store. I like to find ways to repurpose materials I have already created to cut down on prep time. Looking for more ideas? Follow me on Instagram @myfabulousclass
