You may be surprised just how much a pack of playing cards can help give your child’s maths knowledge a boost. Here are 10 reasons why:

1. Playing cards builds number confidence

Kids love playing a game without being pressured. Card games can help change the perception of a child’s learning about numbers in a positive light I without the fear of making mistakes on a worksheet.

2. Quick thinking skills

Card-playing will undoubtedly speed up your child’s maths thinking brain – mental maths is a key life skill.

 3. Memory Improvement

Games like “memory” using matching pairs are a great way to enhance memory. Children learn how to recover information in a relaxed environment while developing patience and perseverance. Getting the grandparents involved, too can help stimulate their brain too!

4. Cards encourage number talk

Playing cards can provide a great talking opportunity for children to get to grips with mathematical language in a non-threatening way. With the Wildlife you can encourage kids to tell you what’s the same or different – with the numbers and the patterns and the animals. By taking the fear out of maths, you’re training them to ultimately think these kinds of ideas through by themselves.

5. Teach new strategies (whilst being fun)

Children can learn new strategies for storing and recovering information, categorising patterns, sequencing and sorting by playing cards. It will also quicken up their reflexes – both mentally and physically. Just think how quick off the mark you need to be to reign supreme in ‘Snap’! Plus it’s fun! 

 6. Learning through experience

Screen time has been huge during covid with online learning. Getting back to basics with a tangible pack of cards provides children with a practical and tactile experience. Children are learning and exercising other skills too, from communication to problem solving and team work and taking turns.

7. Card games encourage confidence

More traditional games like ‘Patience’ help children recognise and play with numbers.

8. Card games are a great alternative for learning times tables

Learning times tables by rote is no-one's idea of a good time, but playing a game of ‘War’ might just be! To play simply deal a pack amongst the players. Each turns over two cards, multiplies them together and shares the answer – the highest number wins all the cards played. (To make this a simpler game for younger children, get them to add the two cards together instead of multiplying.)

9. Endless possibilities

A simple pack of cards allows children to practise many different elements of maths, from core skills like addition and subtraction to more complex concepts like fractions and probability.

10. Encourage risk-taking

Children like to be right, and can be reluctant to suggest an answer they're not sure about in class. “Playing a game like blackjack, where you have to make a decision based on the cards you already have, will encourage children to make a judgement, using the number facts they already know. Card games provide a much safer way for children to take a risk.