Games for Educators

Math Concepts

Counting and order to 40

Materials

Deck of numbered cards from 0 to 40

Players

2

Set up

Start with a deck of Number Cards that go from 0 to 40. Deal six cards to each player (fewer cards for younger players). The dealt cards are placed in front of each player in the order they are dealt. The remaining cards are placed face down in a draw pile. The top card is placed facing up as the first card in a discard pile.

Play

During a turn, a player may select either the top card of the discard pile or the draw pile. The selected card must be used to replace one of the cards in front of the player, and the replaced card is put face up on the top of the discard pile.

Goal

The goal of the game is to get the cards in increasing order from left to right. The first player to do so is the winner.

Example move

It’s the bottom player’s turn in illustration above. That player should choose the 4 from the discard pile and use it to replace the 26– a 4 is a small number useful to have on the far left.