Description
How it works
Each player turns over five cards and writes equations equal to zero, using any number of their cards and any of the four operations. Whoever uses the most cards in their equations takes the round. It is more open-ended than most fact games — there is no single right answer, and a child who spots that multiplying by a zero card zeroes an entire expression has found something genuinely clever rather than merely remembered something.
What you’ll need
- A deck with face cards removed (ace = 1)
- Paper and pencil
Skills practiced
All four operations, order of operations, the properties of zero, and flexible equation building.
Grade level
3rd through 6th grade. Pair children as teams chasing five or ten unique equations, change the target away from zero, or award bonus points for using division.
Instant PDF download. Game instructions adapted from the ideas in Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling (ASCD / NCTM, 2019).
