We are beginning to work on addition and subtraction here in kindergarten. While this is a concept that many children understand (if I have 4 apples and I get one more, then I’ll have 5), doing it with numbers and symbols (4+1=5) tends to be much more difficult for children at this age. To help children be more fluent with numbers and the concept of more and less, which leads into addition and subtraction, I like to play card games. Games are always a fun way to reinforce learning concepts, as well as social skills like being a good winner and loser and taking turns. One of my favorite games to play is called Speed.  This game, which is sometimes called “Speed,” works on fluency in counting forward and backward. This is not a “taking turns” style of game, but rather a speed-based game, in which each player tries to play his cards as fast as he can. As players become more and more fluent in their play, they play their cards in rapid succession.

Here’s how to play:

• 2 Players
• Grades K+

PREPARING TO PLAY

• Shuffle the full deck of cards. Place two cards face down in the playing area (next to each other, with at least a card width’s space in between). Each of the two cards should be within equal reach of the two players.
• The suits hold no importance in this game, only the numbers matter.
• Divide the remaining cards evenly between the two players. Players pick up five cards from their own pile to hold in their hand and leave the rest of their cards in one pile face down in front of them.
• When both players are ready, each player turns over one of the two cards in the playing area, so that both cards are now face up, forming the two “playing piles”.

PLAYING THE GAME

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  Either player can play a card from his hand onto either of the two playing piles in the center, at any time, by placing a card that is either one more than, or one fewer than, the card that is on the top of that pile. So for example, if the top cards are currently a King and an Eight, only a Ace or an Queen can be played on the King, and only a Seven or a Nine can be played on the Eight.

• An Ace is treated as both greater than a King and less than a Two; thus it can be played on a King or a Two.
• Each player can only pick up and play from the five cards in his hand. Each time he plays a card, he can pick up the next card in his pile and place it into his hand.
• A player can only lay down one card at a time, so for example, if there is a Three on the playing field and he holds in his hand a Two, a Three, and another Two, he has to take the time to lay the cards down individually, not as a compact stack of three cards.
• If there is a stall in the game, when neither player can play, there are two options. The first option is that each player can take the top card off his own pile and place it face up on one of the two playing piles to reset the playing piles. The second option is that each playing pile can be picked up, stacked neatly, and placed face down on the side of the playing area. The players can then pull a card off the top of each of those piles and place them face up to reset the playing piles. Players can draw from those piles on the side each time there is a stall in the game.