Description
How it works
Deal four cards each. Instead of asking for a matching card, players ask for the card that would complete a 10 — holding a 4, you ask for a 6. Pairs get laid down, hands get topped back up to four, and play runs until the deck is gone. The asking is what makes this work: a child has to compute the missing addend before they can even take their turn, so every question is a rep.
What you’ll need
- One deck of numeral cards, or playing cards with kings and jacks removed (ace = 1, queen = 0)
Skills practiced
Combinations of 10, finding a missing addend, and recalling number bonds fast enough to keep a conversation going.
Grade level
Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Change the target to Go Fish for 8s with a smaller deck, or switch to differences — Go Fish for 2s asks for cards two apart — and the same deck covers subtraction.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
