Strengthen Math concepts using playing cards.

Playing cards are a great way to spend time and have fun. My daughter loves to play cards. She was introduced to card playing by my father in law, who used to play a simple matching game with her when she was about 3.

It was like this:

·        The cards were equally divided among the players and kept in stacks with their face down.

·        The players took turns in drawing a card at the top of their own stack and placed it at the centre.

·        You keep drawing cards in turns and piling them at the centre till a matching card comes up.

·        If your card matches the one at the top of the central pile; you can keep the entire pile.

·        E.g. If you put a diamond on a diamond that is already at the top of the pile; the pile is yours.

One day, she told me that she was bored of this game and wanted to play something new. So I tried to invent an age-appropriate game for her.

While racking my brains, I discovered that many mathematical concepts can be introduced and strengthened using playing cards.

These are some of the games we played together and which have helped her understand some concepts thoroughly after they were introduced at school.  

1.    Sequencing:

     Oh, this is just simply solitaire.

·        Place all the aces in a line.  

·        Shuffle the rest of the cards well and stack them.

·        Keep drawing cards one at a time till you get the next number in the sequence.

My daughter soon understood that number 3 follows number 2 and so on.

2.    Before and after:

This is actually a traditional game called “Badam Satti”. It is a slightly complicated version of the sequencing game. Of course I had initially kept it simple.

It’s like this:

·        You place all the sevens in a line.

·        Then, distribute the cards equally among the players and start sequencing on both sides of 7 i.e. before and after.

3.    Greater than/less than:

·        Keep the pile of cards at the centre.

·        Both the players draw one card each.

·        The person who draws a card with a bigger number is allowed to keep both the cards.

4.    Addition:

·        Draw one card each.

·        The person who draws the bigger number gets a turn to add numbers on both the cards.

5.    Subtraction:

·        This is similar to the addition game above with a slight difference.

·        The person with the smaller card subtracts his number from the other bigger card.

6.    Odd/even (level 1):

·        Draw a card and tell whether it’s odd or even.

7.    Odd/even (level 2):

·        Draw one card each.

·        Add them up and tell whether the sum is odd or even.

You can add your own fun elements to the games and even invent your own games.

Happy playing J

Time Please!

“Summer vacations! Yay! What fun!!”

I kept repeating this to myself while going through my “things to do” list.

It’s so important to keep the children busy in the holidays to keep boredom at bay. In addition, they should have enriching experiences that develop their personalities and help them in the future.

As a parent I consider it my duty to engage my children in fruitful activities in the vacations.

Summer activity camp in the morning, swimming lessons in the afternoon, robotics classes twice a week in the evening for the older one and drawing classes for the younger one.

Plus, weekend outings for the whole month…….A visit to the zoo, one to the science center, one to the museum, one or two movies and finally a day of fun at the amusement park. Not only that, we also had our annual outstation trip booked.

I had also invested time in convincing some of their friends to join us on those day trips and summer camps.

 I am really pleased with myself.

“You are doing a good job, super mom.” I tell myself, already exhausted with all the planning.

I went to my children’s room and called for their attention. “We are going to have a really exciting summer vacation” I said enthusiastically.

They stopped their pillow fight and eyed me with suspicion.

Ignoring their looks I read out my list to them.

As soon as I had finished my son unexpectedly said, “I wish we had school in summer. At least I have some time free to play and do what I want.”

I was stunned!....As if I had been smacked right in the face.

And then I realized that he was right. I was really going overboard with my planning.

They actually had no free time!!

True, there was no school for more than a month. But I was trying to rob them of their VACATION....A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation.

In my enthusiasm, I had forgotten what vacations are meant for. After a whole year of following structure and routine, that’s the period when children are supposed to let their hair down and unwind.

How could I forget, that it was I who was complaining all year round that there is so much work during school days that I hardly have time to sit and chat with my kids. I rarely get time for fun and nonsense.

How many conversations do I have with them without having things like “growth and development” at the back of my mind?

I decided that I had to reform myself.

I had to cut down on a few activities. How about going for just 2 day trips instead of four? We could save the other 2 for the next vacation. After all there are many more vacations to come.

No. I will not go to the other extreme of doing away with all the activities. That would be disastrous! Having the kids in my hair all day long for a whole month would make me go berserk.

I also have my sanity to think of.

But right now I am determined to take it a bit easy….Spend some time with the kids without glancing at the clock to see whether it’s time for the next activity.

Somehow I am feeling a little lighter...more relaxed and definitely a little more happier as I take this decision.

 I hope I manage to strike a balance. I step out of the room with these new thoughts of reform when suddenly I am attacked from behind with a pillow.

I turn around again.

 “Heeeyaaa!!!”

 I let out a shrill war cry and tumble on the bed to join the kids in their pillow fight :)