War – Addition and Subtraction
The setup
Evenly split a shuffled deck of playing cards with the face cards removed. If you like, use dominoes instead.
How to play
Both players turn over their top two cards and add them. The player with the larger sum wins all four cards. If the sums are equal, the next two pairs of cards are added and the winner gets all eight cards. Play this with a single pass through the deck or multiple passes.
How to win
The winner is the player who has the most cards.
Variations
For variety, play this using the difference of the two cards. Or, you can add three cards at a time. Another option is to assign one person to be Odd and the other Even. For this, each player turns over a card and the evenness or oddness of the sum determines who gets the 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!