The In-Between Game
The setup
Use one set of cards from 0 to 10. Use either Number Cards or playing cards with Queen as 0 and Ace as 1. Each player also gets 20 tokens.
How to play
For the player whose turn it is, deal two cards face up and a third card face down between them. The player decides to bet 0 to 3 tokens that the third card is between the two cards. If the player is right, the player gets that many tokens from the other player. If the player is wrong, that many tokens go to the other player.
How to win
You can either play five rounds or until one player runs out of tokens. The player with the most tokens at the end wins.
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!