Learning Multiplication with Playing Cards

This is a fun game for teachers to incorporate into their teaching lessons and it is fun because of the partial element of surprise. Kids love surprises and the best part of this game is that the students will have even more fun learning because they won’t even realize they are in class. This will make learning how to multiply even less of a hassle for teachers.
What you will need:
Deck of cards per 3 players at a time- average class size 30-35 (12 decks)
The  students are first put into groups of 3. There are 2 players that compete against each other. The third player in each group is the person who controls the dealing of the cards. The dealer takes two cards from the deck and places them face down. Then once both players are ready, the dealer flips over the cards. The students try to multiply the two cards that are exposed. Whoever answers correctly keeps the cards. The cards then have a point system. If the student answers incorrectly then the other student has a chance to guess the correct answer. If the student answers correctly then he/she obtains the cards. If the student does not know the answer or does not answer correctly, then no one obtains the cards/points. Therefore, whoever has the most cards at the end of the game is the person that wins.
Teachers can also continue playing this game by taking each winner from each group and have the best of the best compete against each other to find out who knows how to multiply the best. The winner of the entire class can then be assigned to some special task or treat.
Tips:
To make the game more student centered you can buy children’s playing cards that could be a favorite character of the students, or a theme of a popular kids movie.
To make this game even harder or for students who are older you can add
one more card to the original 2 card format. Therefore, instead of students having to multiply 2 cards, they would have to multiply 3 cards. This would make this a lot more challenging and really test the multiplication skills.
Teachers can also have the students make up a sentence that incorporates the answer of the two cards. This exercise will encourage them to learn how to multiply – and, stimulate their creativity as well.