Year 4 have been learning all about decimals and today we played Decimal War!
We had to use our playing cards to create the largest (or smallest) decimal number possible. We also had to use strategy by choosing an action of keep, swap or steal to try and outwit our partners!
We tried this with three digits and then four digits. We also tried having one round per game, and then added more rounds to see what would happen.
You can try this at home with decimals or whole numbers.
How to play Decimal War
- Draw a place value grid on your whiteboard that includes ones, tenths and hundredths
- Remove all of the 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings
- Each player gets 3 cards.
- Remaining cards are placed face down in the middle of the table.
- After each player looks at their cards and determines their greatest 3-digit number, the fun starts! Taking turns, each player has the option to…
- Stick–keep their 3 cards
- Swap–remove one card from their hand and take a new card from the pile in the middle of the table
- Steal–trade a card from their hand for a card from any other player’s hand (without looking at what card they are picking)
- After all players have had a turn to adjust their cards, players show their cards and the greatest 3-digit number wins.