When my friend, Erin, made a request for a new math game, I couldn’t resist. She was looking for a new game to help students practice arrays and repeated addition. The CCSS for 2nd grade have students working with arrays up to 5×5 in size.
Here is my interpretation of the Memory-style game she requested. Half of the cards contain pictures of arrays (up to 5×5) and the other half contain repeated addition problems. There are 32 cards in all to keep the set manageable for students.
I couldn’t stop there. My 3-year old LOVES games. One of the games she enjoys playing is Old Maid. Have you ever tried to play Old Maid with 2 players? Ha! To top it off, she actually WANTS the Old Maid. She knows she loses if she ends up with it, but she tries to hide it in her hand and keep me from getting it. It was after playing this game for the 17th time on a Tuesday that I decided I had to make an Old-Maid inspired game for my friend, too. That is how Playing with Arrays came to be created.
By the way, if you play a lot of card games in your classroom and students have difficulty holding them all, you should invest in some card holders like the ones shown above holding the Playing with Arrays cards. The pic below shows the other side. They are a lifesaver for tiny hands!
If you’ve been a follower of mine for awhile, you also know I have an obsession with a passion for using dice and spinners in the classroom. They are my go-to math manipulatives. I had to add a few re-usable games, too. These can be printed on cardstock, placed in a sheet protector, and written on with a dry erase marker over and over again.
Finally, we all know that while YOU can gauge student learning and understanding through observations and game play, sometimes your administrator wants concrete evidence of learning. So, I added three worksheets with answer keys to the mix.
So that shows you what’s included. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.
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