War, but you have to add first
Addition War
The card game every child already knows, with one change that turns it into a number-bond drill. Both players turn two cards, add them, and the bigger total takes all four.
- Players
- 2
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Ages
- 6 and up
What you need
- A standard deck of cards with the picture cards removed
How to play
- Split the deck. Remove the picture cards. Deal the rest face down, evenly, one pile each. Aces count as one.
- Turn two each. Both players turn over their top two cards at the same time.
- Add and compare. Each player adds their own two cards and says the total aloud. The higher total takes all four cards and puts them at the bottom of their pile.
- Settle a tie. If the totals match, leave the cards where they are, turn two more each, and the winner of that round takes all eight.
- Play to the end. The game ends when one player has all the cards, or when you decide to stop and count who has more.
The maths in it
It drills addition facts under the only pressure a six-year-old cares about, which is wanting to win. Because both totals are said aloud and compared, it also quietly rehearses ordering — and a child who miscounts is corrected by the game rather than by an adult.
Making it fit the child
Easier: Turn one card each and compare single numbers. For a child still counting on, let them lay the cards out and count the pips.
Harder: Multiply instead of adding, which turns it into a times-tables drill. Or turn three cards and add, which is where carrying starts.