The Great Mezmo
Overview An easy card game that reinforces basic number recognition,
greater/less than and odd/even.
Subject: Math
Grade Levels: Kindergarten to Grade 2
Objectives Students will be able to:
1. identify the numbers from 1 to 10
2. identify odd and even numbers
3. work with the concepts "greater than" and "less than"
Materials - Deck of cards with face cards removed (doesn't need to be a full
deck so if you have one that's missing a few cards, feel free to use it for this
game)
- two players
Preparation Remove face cards from the deck of cards.
Shuffle remainder of the deck.
Player 1 picks a card from the deck without looking at it. They hold it up on
their forehead. The card should be held on the forehead so player 2 can see it,
but player 1 can not.
Player 2 gives a hint about the number (single digit, odd or even, greater than
5, less than 8, etc). Player 1 guesses what the number is.
Continue hinting and guessing until Player 1 guesses the card.
Repeat, only this time Player 2 picks the card and Player 1 gives the hints.
It's great skills practice whether you're player 1 or player 2.
Short Extension As the child builds confidence with number identification,
odd/even and greater/less than you can add some basic math facts.
For example, if the child drew the number 4 you might give the hint "2 + 2
equals this number".
For the number 6 you might give the clue "this number is 1 more than 5".