Description
How it works
Everyone turns over four cards and chooses the two that add closest to 13. Add them, record the sum, then record how far off 13 you were — add to 11 and you score 2. Discard, deal four fresh cards, and repeat for five rounds. Lowest total wins. The scoring is the clever part: children have to try several combinations mentally before committing, so a single turn contains four or five additions rather than one.
What you’ll need
- One deck of numeral cards, or playing cards with kings and jacks removed (ace = 1, queen = 0)
- Paper and pencil for scoring
Skills practiced
Addition within 20, estimating and comparing sums, and finding the difference between a sum and a target.
Grade level
1st through 4th grade. Change the lucky number, allow all four cards, or move to multiplication with a target like 24 to stretch it upward.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
