"Risk", a game to encourage reading numbers and Place Value

What you need

• Two to four players
• One pack of cars with all picture cards and 10's removed

The objective:

• Have the highest number at the end (Year 4's work up to 1,000, Year 5/6 work up to 1,000,000.
• The maths is reading numbers, ordering numbers and learning place value e.g. In 342, the 3 is worth 300, the 4 is worth 40 and the 2 is worth 2.
• The "risk" is the element of chance involved...calculated by what cards have been played and what needs to be changed to win.
• It's the questions that the "adult" dealing for the game asks, and the maths language used by the children, which makes the maths worthwhile, not just the swapping of cards or the winning.

How to play

• Deal one card to each player.  They choose to put it in the hundreds place, or tens or ones.
• Deal a second card and choose the place.
• Deal a third card to the vacant space.  You now have a three digit number.
• Now deal to the first person again and they must change one card.  Repeat for all players.
• Repeat this once or twice where the card is seen and cards are changed.
• Now the "risk" begins. Players have to select which card they will changebefore they see the card.  They may gain or lose points on the turn of the card, Repeat once or twice more.
• Winner is the highest number.

Questions to ask

• Read the numbers in order from highest to lowest or v.v
• Round numbers to the nearest 10/100
• If we added 10 to each score what would it be?
• If I put the new card in the hundreds what would you win/lose? in the tens? in the ones?
• What is the difference between each score?
• What would you need to get on the next card to take the lead?
• Estimate answer adding up all the numbers