Playing Card Maths

Contents Long Line Make 15 Card Tower Squares Snap! Times Tables Greater More ...

Imagine you are on a desert island with nothing but a pack of playing cards. Do you have to stop learning mathematics? Of course not, there are many fascinating mathematical activities you can enjoy and here are some ideas.

Long Line Make a line of cards so that consectutive card totals are odd, even, prime or square;
Make 15 Take turns to select a card. The first person to make a sum of 15 with their cards wins;
Card Tower Find the rule for the number sequence created while building a tower or bridge of cards;
Squares Use nine playing cards to form a magic, unmagic, prime or sum square;
Snap! There are many ways to play snap and include numeracy facts in the rules;
Times Tables The more ways you can practice your times tables the better. Here are some ideas;
Greater A really interesting way to explore probability while having fun at the same time;
More ... There is an ever-growing list of other activities for learning Mathematics with cards;

If you are not familiar with standard playing cards here is a guide.

There are 52 cards in a pack (usually called a deck). The cards are grouped into four suits of 13 cards each. these suits are called clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. Click on a tab below to see the cards in each of these suits.

Hearts ♥ Diamonds ♦ Clubs ♣ Spades ♠

Hearts ♥			Ace of Hearts
Two of Hearts	Three of Hearts	Four of Hearts	Five of Hearts
Six of Hearts	Seven of Hearts	Eight of Hearts	Nine of Hearts
Ten of Hearts	Jack of Hearts	Queen of Hearts	King of Hearts

Do you have any wonderful ideas for using playing cards to help learn mathematics? Please share your ideas here.

Playing cards have been around since the ninth century. They were invented in China and spread across Europe in the fourteenth century. Though the designs on the cards have changed over the years the basic number properties have not.

Because they are so popular the manufacture of high quality cards is not expensive and makes them an ideal tool for learning mathematics.

Comments and suggestions:

Ann Mason, Kingsmead School Derby

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

"NUMBER BONDS TO TEN
Remove all 10, j, q, k cards from a pack of cards.
Pupil turns over cards to create 8 separate piles.
Pairs of cards can be covered, with new cards from the pack, if the two numbers add up to 10. (Ace is taken as 1)
The aim is to get rid of all the cards - not always possible, but they soon learn to recognise the number bonds.
Could be timed to create competition as they get more confident."

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Activities with numbered cards:

Suggested Prime Pairs Game A game for two players who take turns to select two numbers that add up to a prime number. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=ppg	Suggested Superior A game for two players who compete to make the largest possible number from randomly selected cards. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=superior	Suggested Manifest An exciting and thought-provoking number placing game for two players or one player versus the computer. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=manifest
Suggested Nevertheless Players decide where to place the cards to make an equation with the largest possible solution. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=nevertheless	Suggested Fifteen A strategy game. Play against the computer to select three numbers that add up to 15. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=fifteen	Suggested Square Pairs Game A game for two players who take turns to select two numbers that add up to a square number. The short web address is: Transum.org/go/?to=sqpg