5 Card Draw To A Target
The setup
Choose a target number, say 100.
How to play
Each player picks up five random cards from 0 to 9. Two 2-digit numbers are made out of these numbers, the fifth card is unused. The two numbers are added and the player closest to the target wins a point for that round.
How to win
The highest number of points after a fixed number of rounds wins.
Variations
One option is to use three-digit numbers, a target number of 1000, and each player receives seven cards. Another option is to use subtraction with a smaller target number.
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!