Math Game Monday: Cross-Twenties

This game gives young children practice adding numbers within twenty. And it’s great strategic fun for all ages!

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children.

And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

Cross-Twenties

Math Concepts: addition to twenty, thinking ahead.

Players: two or more.

Equipment: two decks of playing cards (face cards removed), six tokens per player.

How to Play

Shuffle the two decks of cards together. Deal five cards to each player, and give each player six tokens. Turn one card face up to start the game. Place the remaining stack of cards face down as a draw pile.

On your turn, place one card face up on the table so that it lines up with the side, top, or bottom edge of a card already played. Then draw a replacement so you always have five cards in your hand.

The cards on the table will form a crossword-style pattern, but no row or column of the pattern is allowed to go over a sum of twenty. If your card makes a row or column (or both) add up to exactly twenty, put one of your tokens at each end to mark that sum as completed.

The first player to make three twenties, and thus run out of tokens, wins the game.

History

Constance Kamii called this game Twenty-Twenty in her book Young Children Continue to Reinvent Arithmetic. You can also play with a double-nine set of dominoes, as Kamii does in her third-grade book.