ADDEMUP! A Play and Practice Card Game

I often invent little games to play with students, to try to turn practice into play.  I find that many students need to work on their ability to add and subtract or multiply and divide numbers in their head.  "Mental math" it is often called.  The thing is, practicing once a week doesn't quite get us where we want to be (or so my piano teacher once told me!).  My hope is that if I can create a fun way to practice, maybe students can do it with their parents, siblings or friends at home.

Here is a game I created recently with a grade 5 student to practice adding and subtracting numbers up to 10, in your head.  We call it Addemup!

ADDEMUP!

Set-Up

Use a regular deck of 52 card deck of playing cards.  Remove the 12 face cards.
Pick a number between 1 and 20.  This number is the Game Number for the current game.
Shuffle the deck well.  Deal eight cards, face up, in a two rows by four cards.  This is the game grid.

Object of the Game

Each player tries to collect as many cards as possible, by picking up sets that total the Game Number, using addition and subtraction.

Game Play

This game can be played with two or more players.  Play is done by turn, until the entire deck is used.

On a turn a player attempts to make as many sets as possible, from the game grid, for his or her set collection.  A set is made up of a number of cards that total the Game Number, by adding or subtracting the value of each card.  The player must state what their calculation is as they pick up the cards. For example if the Game Number is 12, Player 1 may pick up 6, 9, 2, 1, in that order and say:

“6 plus 9 is 15, minus 2 is 13, minus 1 is 12”; or
“6 plus 9 is 15, 2 plus 1 is 3, 15 minus 3 is 12”.   

As a set is completed it is removed from the game grid and added to the player’s set collection.

At the end of a turn, cards from the deck are dealt to fill the spaces left in the grid by the removed sets.

The game ends when no cards are left to be dealt and the player whose turn it is can make no more sets.

The object is to collect as many cards (not sets) as possible.  A set with four cards is therefore more valuable than a set with two cards. 

Variations

·         Instead of a 4 x 2 layout of cards try 3 x 3 cards, 3 x 2 cards or 4 x 3 cards instead. 

·         The red cards are negative integers and the black cards are positive integers, with addition and subtraction allowed, but if you have a red 4, you must subtract -4 or add -4 to get your final result.  For this variation, your Game Number may be a negative integer.

·         Instead of choosing a Game Number prior to the start of the game, for each turn, after filling the grid or face-up cards, flip the top card of the deck over and place it on top of the deck – this becomes the Game Number for this player’s turn.  For the next player’s turn, this card becomes the first one placed in the grid to replace the cards removed as sets.