Embracing The Simplicity Of UNO Cards In Your Maths Centres

You don’t always need those fancy schmancy resources when teaching Maths. Here at Rainbow Sky Creations, we are all about turning everyday stuff into cool lessons!

So, let’s tell you about one of our fave resources – a plain ol’ deck of UNO cards – and transform them into game-changing Maths lessons!

This is Part 2 of our UNO card series. If you want more ideas beyond what we have here, check out this post.

We have whipped up 12 more awesome ways you can use UNO cards to teach all age groups (oh, and no sweat if you don’t have UNO cards, regular decks work too). We have sorted these ideas by age – because we know your time is precious! Just scroll down to find the age group you teach.

Psst: Guess what? There’s more waiting for you at the end of this post – if you are short on time and creativity, we have ready-to-go printables to make your life easier.

Ready to jazz up Maths time with UNO Cards? Let’s do this!

Kindergarten

Numbers before and after– Students generate a number using UNO cards (it can be 1-digit or 2-digits, depending on what individual students are working on). Students then identify the number before and the number after. For students that need scaffolding, provide a number chart.

Collecting and representing data– Students flip 10 cards and record the colour of the cards on a graph. Take it further by asking students to answer questions about the data they collected.

Exploring 2D shapes – Assign a shape to each number 0-9. Students then need to match the number to the corresponding shape.

Click here to view these activities (and more!)

Grades 1-2

Make an Array– Ask students to flip over two cards and use the two numbers to create an array either using counters, blocks or on a recording sheet. As students get more competent, they can label each array.

10 more / 10 less– Identifying 10 less and 10 more than a given number is a skill we focus on with this age group. Flip over 2 or 3 UNO cards to make a 2-digit or 3-digit number. Then ask students to take 10 away and add 10 to their number. (You can use this same activity for adding and subtracting 1: Numbers before and after).

Subtracting from 10– All too often teachers are great at providing activities to develop fluency in adding to ten, but practising subtraction is just as important. Use UNO cards to connect addition to ten and subtraction from ten so students are fluent with both. Click here to view these activities (and more!)

Grades 3-4

Calculating Area– Students select two cards and draw a quadrilateral using the number on the cards as the dimensions. They can then work out the area of their quadrilateral and compare the area to other shapes they create.

Explore Fact Families– Students flip over two UNO cards to make a multiplication number sentence. Then they use this number sentence to record two multiplication facts and two division facts. The magic of fact families is a great skill for this age group to master.

Investigating time– Use UNO cards to create a digital time (to the minute) then, students need to represent it on an analog clock. This would be a beneficial activity for students to work with learning partners.

Click here to view these activities (and more!)

Grades 5-6

Decimal duel– Students play in pairs, and each player chooses three cards to make a decimal number. The player with the largest value gets a point. The first player to 5 is the winner.

Explore the Cartesian plane– Use UNO cards and + & – cards to generate coordinates for the Cartesian plane. You can even turn this into a game for your students.

Decimal of the Day – A fun and scaffolded way to create a visual representation of a decimal generated with UNO cards.

Click here to view these activities (and more!)

BONUS IDEA:

Use UNO cards as random number generators to explore Place Value.

Embracing the Simplicity of UNO cards in your Maths Centres - Rainbow Sky Creations

The possibilities are virtually endless for UNO cards to spark curiosity and excitement in learners of all levels. These activities are perfect to cater for the mix of students and learning vibes in your classroom. If you give them a go, we would love to hear about it!