Games Using Math Dot Cards

Last week we made dot cards, and by now they are beautifully dry and ready to use.

Introducing the Games

My own preference when using math cards with beginners (four and five year olds) was to choose dot cards that only went up to 3. The instructions were that I would toss a card on the table and the children were to quickly say how many dots. The one rule was that they were not to count the dots, but just look and guess how many. If you have more than one child playing with you, let the kids take turns answering. Go through your stack a couple of times.

The next time you meet, add cards for number 4. Talk briefly about four and the dot arrangements on the four cards, and then shuffle the cards into the stack. Play the toss game again. Add another number each day until you have all the numbers to 10 in your stack. The following games should be modeled for the children first, and then they can play independently. If you are playing with one child, no problem!

Dot Card Flash

Pair up with your child or divide your group into pairs. One child will display a card and the partner will call out how many dots he sees. Remember, no counting allowed!

War

Again, this game is played in twos. Each player has a stack of dot cards held face-down. At the signal, “1-2-3-WAR!” players lay a card down, face up, saying the number of dots on their cards. The player who played the higher number gets both cards. The object of the game is to win all the cards.

War Variation

Before players lay down their cards, each says a number aloud. When cards are played, if that number shows up in the cards played, the person who chose that number takes the cards. If neither number shows up, cards go to the center pile. The next person to correctly call a number that is played gets all the cards in the center stack. For example, player 1 calls out “7” and player 2 says “5.” Both players lay down a dot card. The cards played are 3 and 4. Because the played cards do not match the numbers called, both cards go into the center pile and new numbers are called. The next time, player 1 calls out “8” and player 2 calls out “5,” and then both players lay down a card. Cards played are 5 and 7. Player 2 gets both cards. If by chance both players call numbers that match the played cards, each player gets the card she called.

Go Fish

You will need two sets of dot cards for this game. Shuffle the stacks and deal five cards to each player. The player who goes first will look at the dot cards in his hand and will ask the second player for a card to match one he is holding. For instance, if player 1 is to go first and she has dot cards 3, 7, 1, and 9, she will ask player 2 for one of those cards. If player 2 has one, he must surrender that card to player 1 who will place the matching cards face down beside her. Player 2 then asks for a card. If the requested card is not in his partner’s hand, she will say, “go fish” and the requesting player will draw a new card from the center stack. The game ends when the one player is out of cards. The player holding the highest number of pairs wins the game.

Follow Up

After your child has become very familiar with the dot patterns on the cards and has mastered the ability to name the numbers without counting the dots, it will be time to utilize her visual number sense in computation. Check back on Thursday for a new post about visual imprinting for computation. If you missed last Thursday's post about creating the dot cards, click here.