Count Jack is Highest ⋆ DREME Family Math

Activity Summary

The goal of this 2-4 player game is to get the most cards in your saved cards pile. Win cards by having the highest number card in a round.

Instructions

Setup

Take out all face cards except the Jacks. Aces count as 1.
Be sure to shuffle the cards.
Pass out all the cards in the deck so each player has an equal number.

Play

How a turn begins:

Players say “1, 2, 3, Jacks!” and then turn over one card from their deck. Each player aims to have the highest numbered card or a Jack.

How a turn ends:

The player with the highest card wins all the cards that were played on that round and puts them in their own saved pile. If a player gets a Jack, that player wins no matter what number other players have. If two players tie for the highest card, they play another round. The person who wins that round gets all the cards.

How the game ends:

Play until the players have no cards left. The winner is the one with the most cards in their own saved pile.

Tips

Read the Mini Story

Make playing even more fun by telling a story about the game: Count Jack loves to compare which numbers are higher and which are lower. But sometimes he loves to just sneak in and win when he can. You will see how he does this when you play this card game with him.

Support Learning

Your child may not be sure which number is higher. Suggest they count from 1 to 10. Point out which number comes later when counting. When counting from 1 to 10, this shows that the later number is also the higher number.
To figure out which card is higher, you can also suggest looking at which card has more shapes (such as diamonds) on it.

Adjust the Challenge

Make It Easier

Remove the Jacks from the deck and use just the number cards.
Remove some of the cards with higher numbers from the deck. You can play the game using only cards with the numbers 1 through 5 or 1 through 7. When your child knows the lower numbers well, you can begin to put one or more of the higher numbers back in the deck for the games.

Mix Things Up!

Designate as the winner the player with the lowest total on the cards (instead of the highest total).

Make It Harder

Each player puts out two cards, and the player with the highest number out of the four wins all four cards.

What to Play Next

If your child is still practicing the skills in this game, then continue having fun playing this game! Try the tips to support learning and ways to adjust the challenge. When your child is ready for a new game, play Line Them Up.