Elementary Multiplication Games

Math games are cool. Kids have a blast with elementary multiplication games while becoming brighter students. Math is a very important skill that kids need. The more excited they are about it the the better off they will be. Do you want online multiplication games?

Materials:

A deck of cards for each of two students.

Directions:

• Decide upon values for the face cards. These can vary depending on your goals. (In the fourth grade we used Jack=11, Queen=12, King=0, and Ace=1 and left the Jokers out.)
• Students play in pairs. Begin by shuffling the deck and dealing all cards out to the two players. This game is played quite similarly to traditional “war”.
• The players each turn a card over at the same time. The first person to correctly state the product they see wins the two cards. (I required the students to say the number sentence, e.g. “9 times 2 is 18” instead of just “18”.)
• If there is a tie in naming the product, “war” begins. Each player places 2 cards face down, then they simultaneously turn 1 card face up. This continues until one of the players is quicker in giving the number sentence and product. The winner gets to keep all the cards that were placed on the table.
• Play ends when either player has all the cards or after an allotted time. The winner is the player with the most cards.

  This game is highly adaptable. It can be used with its traditional rules at the K-1 level to reinforce magnitude of numbers. Use it in grades 1-3 to reinforce addition facts. It can be used in grades 6-8 to practice integer operations by making red negative and black positive.