Games and puzzles are a great way of practicing math skills while having fun. Playing games and doing puzzles support computational fluency, strategy development, and making connections between mathematical concepts.
Money in My Pocket
Money in my pocket is a game that can be played on the go with two or more players, it can also be played in a classroom setting.
Goal: To correctly guess the number of coins the Banker holds in as few guesses as possible.
How to Play: One player, “The Banker”, places a value of coins in their pocket (or writes a value of coins on a piece of paper and tucks it behind their back).
One person is elected as the “The Questioner”, who can ask the Banker a “Yes” or “No” type question. These questions are to get clues for the rest of the group to determine the number of coins the Banker holds. The Banker can only respond with “Yes” or “No”.
Example
Banker: “I have coins in my pocket” Which coins do you think I have? You can ask me questions but I will only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Let’s see if you can figure out the coins with as few questions as possible!”
Questioner: “Is the value of your coins greater than $1?”
Banker: “No”
Questioner: “Do you have more than two coins?”
Banker: “No”
Questioner: “Are your two coins quarters?”
Banker: “Yes”
Rest of Class: “The banker has 50 cents in two quarters”
Variation: The Banker can disclose the value of their coins at the start of the game and players have to only guess which coins they hold. (Example: Banker “I have $1.50 in my pocket, which coins do you think I have?)