Card Turnover Math Game

Continuing on from yesterday’s post on other ways to help your students recall the times tables, here I share with you a fun times tables card game.

Card Turnover

This game is for 2 players. You will need a deck of cards with the picture cards removed (King, Queen, Jack, Joker). There are 2 ways this game can be played, I’ll explain both ways below.

All times tables facts

• Shuffle the cards and divide them in to two equal piles, face down on the playing surface.

• Players take it in turns to turn over the top card on each pile.
• Players multiply the two numbers, and the first player to call out the correct answer is the winner. That player gets to keep both cards. For example, if the cards turned up are a 7 and a 4, then the problem becomes: 7 x 4. The player that calls out the correct answer of 28 keeps the cards.

• If both players say the answer at the same time, then they keep one card each.
• If the answer is incorrect, then both cards are placed back at the bottom of the piles.
• The winner is the player with the most cards at the end.

Individual times tables

This game can also be adapted to focus on an individual times table, for example the 7 times tables.

• Shuffle the cards and place a card with a 7 on the playing surface face up. Place all the other cards face down next to the 7.

• Players take it in turns to turn over the top card from the pile.
• Players multiply the two numbers, and the first player to call out the correct answer is the winner. That player gets to keep the card turned over. For example, if the card turned over is a 6, then the problem becomes: 6 x 7. The player that calls out the correct answer of 42 keeps the card.

• If both players say the answer at the same time, then the card is placed back at the bottom of the pile.
• If the answer is incorrect, then the card is placed back at the bottom of the pile.
• The winner is the player with the most cards at the end.

Tips and extension

• Have a calculator handy for students to settle any disputes.
• The Ace card can be used as the number 11 or the number 1.
• Include more sets of cards and have up to 4 students playing.
• Use jumbo playing cards and place a magnetic strip on the back. Stick two cards on the whiteboard and get your students to call out the answer.
• The rules can be changed so that players can add the numbers, or subtract the lower number from the higher number.
• To make the game more challenging get your students to make their own sets of cards to include numbers up to 100. For example: 20, 30, 15, 37. They can then use these with an individual times tables, so when these cards are turned over they’re multiplied by the selected multiplier, e.g. 20 x 7.
• Alternatively change the multiplier to be 70, rather than 7. So for the example above the problem would become, 6 x 70.

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Graphic Credits: Graphics From the Pond