Looking for fun math games for elementary school? Pyramid is a favorite of mine. It sharpens math skills while trying to strategically remove all the cards and can be adapted for kids at different levels of math mastery.
What you need:
- Deck of playing cards, with face cards removed
- Aces represent One
What you do:
- Lay out a pyramid of face up cards with one card at the top, two cards overlapping the bottom edge of that card, three cards overlapping the edges of the two cards, and so on, until there are six cards at the bottom of the pyramid.
- Only cards that are fully uncovered can be picked up and discarded.
- Pick up and discard cards with number combinations that equal ten according to the level of difficulty you choose to play with:
Easy: Discard cards in pairs that add up to ten (2 + 8, 3 + 7, etc.)
Challenge: Discard any combination of cards that can be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided to equal ten. For example, 9 + 3 – 2 or 2 x 3 + 4.
Super Challenge: Include the face cards with values: J is 11, Q is 12, and K is 13 (change the target number to 13 instead of 10 for this version).
Teachers, if you have enough cards, this is an excellent game to play to help students sharpen their math skills and have fun at the same time. Friday afternoons are a great time to play math games for elementary school aged kids!
