Learning the Cards

Flash

Players: Two

How to Play: Shuffle the cards and place face down in one pile. The teacher (or parent) turns over one card and the child says how many squares are coloured.  If the child’s answer is correct, it goes into the child’s pile; if not, it goes into the parent’s pile.  Do this until the deck is finished.

Click here for a video of Flash.

Face Off

Materials: Two decks of Power of 10 playing cards (20 cards; 2 of each denomination).
Number of Players: 2 players
Object and Scoring: The object of the game is to obtain as many cards as possible.
How to Play:
1. Each player has a deck of 20 playing cards, which they shuffle.
2. Player one flips over a card and states its value.  Player two does the same thing simultaneously.  The player with the greatest number of coloured squares wins.
3. Play again until all the cards are used.
4. In the case of a tie, turn another card over and place it directly on top of the first card played.  Do not add the cards.
5. It is very important to say the number out loud so that the brain hears the number, sees the card and makes the connection.
6. The winner is the person with the most cards.
7. It is also possible to play continuously until one player wins all the cards or until a certain time is up.

Click here for a Face Off video.

Concentration

Materials: Two decks of Power of 10 playing cards (20cards; 2 of each denomination). For younger children you may want to use half a deck or 10 cards. First use all the cards to 5, then add the cards from 6 to 10, one at a time.
Number of Players: This game can be played with 2,3 or 4 players
Object and Scoring: The object of the game is to obtain as many pairs as possible.
How to Play:    
1. Shuffle the cards and then turn them face down and spread them out on the floor or table. Place the cards in 4 rows of 5 and practice counting by 5s.
2. Player one flips over two cards and states their value separately.  If they are the same, she/he keeps them. She/he picks up two more cards until she/he finds two different cards which are both turned face down and placed in the same position.
3. Player two flips over two cards, states the value, and proceeds until she/he finds two different cards of different values.
4. The game continues until there are no cards left on the table.
5. The winner is the player with the most cards.

Click here to view a video for Concentration.

Go Fish

Materials: Two different coloured decks of Power of Ten playing cards.
Number of Players: 2, 3 or 4 players
Object and Scoring: The object of the game is to be the first player to lay down all your cards.
How to Play:
1. Mix the two decks. Deal 5 cards to each player and spread the rest of the cards out between the players.
2. Player One, the dealer, asks Player Two on his/her left for a card to match one of his/her cards.  If Player Two doesn’t have a match he/she says “Go Fish”, and the asking player draws one from the pile.  If Player One gets a match, he/she lays it down and asks again.  As soon as there is no match, the next player begins.
3. The game finishes when one player has no cards left. The winner is the player that has the most cards. Count the pairs by 2 to find out how many cards they have.

Click here for a Go Fish video.