Let It Slide: A Measurement Game

Another goodie from Education.com

What you need:
deck of cards
ruler
table about a meter in length (or masking tape to mark off a meter in length)
paper and pencil


How to Play
1.  Mark a line one meter from the edge of your table.  Or use a table one meter in length.  If necessary, mark a 1 meter square playing area on the floor with tape.

2.  Each player draws 3 cards from the deck.  They take turns sliding their cards along the table.  You must release your card by the time you reach the tape marking the edge of the 1 meter playing field.  The goal is to have the card land touching the edge of the table - or the 1 meter mark.

3.  Measure the distance each card is from the meter mark using a ruler.  Students should measure in either centimeters or inches (teacher assigns).  If the card falls off the table, or slides past the border, then the student records 20 as their score.  Players should measure their total number of centimeters or inches and record them for the round.

4.  Play for 5 rounds.  Add up your totals (calculators may be used at teacher's discretion).  The lowest score wins!

Give Me a Clue

This game comes from Education.com

You Need a deck of cards.  Remove face cards and jokers.

1.  Take turns being the dealer and the guesser.

2.  The dealer draws 2 cards from a shuffled deck.  After examining the cards, they must give 2 clues that involve a math operation and relate the cards to one another.  For example, if the dealer has a 3 and a 5, their clues might be:
a.  The sum of the cards is 8.
b.  When you double one of the cards, you get 10.

3.  Now the guessers tries to identify the value of the 2 cards.  If they are unable to guess correctly, the dealer gives another clue.
For example:  The difference is 2.

4.  When the numbers are guessed, switch roles and play again.



Variations:  Allow children to choose 3 cards.  Even more advanced?  Let them choose 4 cards.

Evens or Odds

This game will appeal to fans of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  The boys in my room are loud when they play this game, and they love to be loud.

Here's how to play.  Pair up your students.  One group may have 3 kids, but make sure those kids are able to add 3 numbers together.

1.  Players decide who will be "odds" and who will be "evens".  Each creates a score card in their journal.  A simple T chart will work fine.

2.  Both players bounce their fist on their legs or tables 3 times saying "Evens or Odds, Shoot".  When they say "Shoot", both players should shoot out any number of fingers between 0 or 5.  

3.  Players add together the numbers from each player's hand.

4.  If the sum is odd, the "odd player" adds the sum to his score.  If the sum is even, the "even player" adds the score to her score. 

5.  Repeat steps 2 - 4 until one player reaches 50.

Challenge Version

Play the same game, except each player uses 2 fists.  Add together the fingers from all 4 hands to get the sum.  This version will require some double digit addition.

 

Foreheads

Foreheads

This one is a challenging game. Children practice addition facts with missing addends. It helps children understand the relationship between addition and subtraction. I play this game repeatedly throughout the year. It's a great refresher for basic facts.

Also, some of my children are not ready to understand the relationship between addition and subtraction until later in the year. It's very exciting when a child runs over to me after playing this game in April and excitedly explains the connection he just noticed between addition and subtraction.

Supplies

1 deck of cards for each group of 3 children

How to Play

1. Remove all face cards from the deck.
2. Choose one player to be the "teacher" first. (All children will get a turn.)
3. The "teacher" hands one facedown card to each contestant. Children are not allowed to look at their own cards.
4. The contestants hold their cards on their foreheads WITHOUT EVER LOOKING AT THEIR OWN NUMBER. The cards are held face out so that the opponent can see the number.
5. The "teacher" quickly adds the two numbers together and calls out the sum.
6. The two contestants race to identify their own number using the sum and the card they can see on the opponents head.
   1. For example, in this hand, the host would call out the sum, 13.
      
   2. The player on the left knows that his opponent has a 4, so he subtracts 13 – 4 to identify his number, 9.

7. The first contestant to identify his own number collects both cards.
8. Play continues until the deck is gone. The winner is the contestant with the most cards.
9. Play again, and choose a new game show host.