I played a game with my students this week, since we were studying even and odd numbers.
I remember doing this activity as a child.
I don't remember what we called it.
I don't remember much about it at all, so I shared with my students what I remembered, and made up the rest.
It worked.
Here's how we did it.
1 .Children chose partners.
2. The partners decided who would represent even, and who would represent odd.
3. Players stood facing each other with one hand behind their back.
4. One partner said, "One, two, three, shoot!"
5. On "shoot," each player shoots out 0, 1, or 2 fingers.
6. Both players determine if the total fingers is even or odd, and that player gets a point for that round.
7. Play continues until time runs out, with players keeping track of how many points for "even" or "odd."
A more advanced version: use up to 5 fingers for each draw.
Another way: use dice, add them, odd or even gets a point. They can keep tallies on a whiteboard to keep score. Playing cards would work, too!
All my games end with a handshake and the words, "good game!"
I had all my students playing with partners at the same time. Of course, I had to join in the fun since I have an odd number of students. We now play this game often as part of our Morning Meeting or as a Math warm up!
