Mr. R.’s World of Math

factor battle card game

click here for a printable factor battle product cards

Lesson: Factor Battle: a card game for learning factors based on the traditional card game of war.
Grade Level: 3-5
Skills: understanding and using multiplicative factors

Materials:
deck of playing cards
deck of product cards (print and cut out- click link above for printable version)
two players

How to play:
1. Place the pile of product cards face down on the table.
2. One of the players deals out all the playing cards face down (one for you, one for me, etc.).
3. Turn over the top product card.
4. Players take top card from their piles and put it face-up on the table. – If the digit on one of the players’ cards is a factor of the number on the product card, they say “factor” and take both players cards.(The factor card goes back to the bottom of the pile).

For example: if the product card is 14, and a player’s card is a 7, 2, or 1, they will say ‘factor’ and win the round.

5. If both players’ cards have numbers that are not factors, the players deal out their next cards on top of the first two. If both players have cards that are factors of the number on the product card they play war.

factor war- both players put three cards face down and then the fourth card face up. If nobody wins the war, the players start placing cards face up in a shoot out. (or they may play war again). The first player with a card that is a factor wins all the cards in both piles.

6. The first player to have all the playing cards wins. The player who runs out of cards during a war loses.

Notes:
values of picture cards:

jacks = 11
queens = 12
kings = wild card (They are factors of all numbers)
aces = 1 (They are factors of all numbers)

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