Hit The Target
The setup
From a deck of playing cards, remove the face cards and any numbers that are larger than what the children are comfortable with. Shuffle the cards and turn over five cards to use and a sixth card that is the target. Leave the remaining cards as a draw pile to fill in cards as they get removed.
How to play
During a turn, if a player can use the sum or difference of two of the five cards to equal the sixth, the player gets all three cards and they are replaced from the draw pile. If the player fails, then a new sixth card is turned over and the turn moves to the next player.
How to win
The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
Variations
There are several variations you can use. You can allow a player to use three cards, instead of just two, to add up to the sixth. You can even allow any number of cards to be used to add up to the sixth. Another variation is to allow a mixture of addition and subtraction with any number of cards.
Helping your child
First and foremost, playing math games should be fun, like any other game your family plays together!
Please let your child make poor plays (mistakes) without correction, and resist the urge to tell them the best ways to play. Bit by bit, your child will get better at the game, and they will learn so much more if you let them figure things out. There is no hurry.
If you see your child make a mistake, ask them to describe why they decided to do what they did. If your child is stuck and doesn’t know which play to make, ask them to describe the pros and cons of their choices, or ask them about how they solved a similar situation in the past. If your child doesn’t remember how to do a calculation, discuss with them the methods they know for figuring it out. These conversations are important for helping your child to develop mathematically.
Through math game play and math conversations, you are helping your child learn to enjoy math and develop important problem solving skills!