Add 'em Up

When the kids were younger they loved to play card games. Add 'em up is a card game we created. We thought we would make a card game that also helped you learn addition. You need two decks of regular playing cards. The cards 2-10 are worth their face value. (a 2 is worth 2, 3 worth 3 and so on). An ace has a value of one (1) and king, queen and jack have a value of zero (0).

You deal 10 cards to each person. Each person only looks at their cards. I am going to show you the hands so you can see how to play. Now put the rest of the cards in the middle and turn up the top card.

The youngest player starts and has to play at least two cards that equal the value of the card turned up. In this example a 5 is showing so you can play a Queen (0) + 5 = 5. In the next example you can play an Ace(1) + Ace(1) + 3 = 5. You lay those cards on top of the five and the next person has to discard cards that equal the top card value.

If you can not make a play you draw a card and then turn over a new card then it moves to the next person. Turning over another card is key. Otherwise if you end up with a face card you keep adding zero (0) and zero(0) and it never ends. Now the next person has to discard cards that equal the value of the top card or they draw and turn over a new card. Remember you have to always discard at least two cards. If we used a face card and a number we always made them lay the face card first and then the number on top. It gives the kids more chances to add. Whoever gets rid of their cards first wins.

After they are comfortable adding you can add subtraction. The rules are the same except you can add cards together or subtract them to make the correct number. I hope you enjoy and your kids get better at addition and subtraction.