User Guide

Why Simply Clever Cards?

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Our vision is to go above and beyond the traditional Math Flash Cards, to provide much more fun and options for kids to learn the multiplication tables without sticking to rote memorization, which is necessary to a certain degree, but very quickly becomes boring and detrimental to learning. Learning through games has been scientifically proven to improve motivation and retention, since it allows for repeating and revisiting the basic concepts time and again, while nobody wants to pick up their Math Flash Cards again once they believe they have mastered the multiplication tables. However, reinforcing the multiplication tables requires repetition over time, and this is where our product is superior.

Your Simply Clever Arithmetic Cards are unique because they can
– be used as Math Flash Cards
– be used as Regular Playing Cards
– be used for Math Card Games

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What’s On The Cards

  • The card values from 0 to 12 are printed with large numbers.
  • Below the line are 5 numbers in smaller print. These range from 0 to 144 and represent all possible answers in the 0 to 12 times tables from 0x0 to 12×12.
  • The top left corner has the card value, like on a regular playing card.
  • The top right corner has a pen symbol for the Arithmetic deck (later there will be other decks for other math topics).
  • The bottom left corner has a calculator symbol for Mathematics (later there will be other decks for other subjects).
  • The bottom right corner has a Greek letter and a number that make up a unique ID for each card.

How To Play

  • The great thing about your deck of Simply Clever Arithmetic Cardsâ„¢ is that you can make your own math version of almost any regular card game!
  • Therefore you can play your favorite card game(s) and practice math at the same time.
  • You don’t need to change decks to play the regular version of a card game, since you can also use every deck of Simply Clever Cards as regular playing cards
  • In fact, it’s a good idea to get used to the cards by playing regular card games you know at first.
  • Just use the colors as suits and the 13 different numbers from 0 to 12 as card values.
  • You can use the 11 card as Jack, 12 as Queen, 0 as King and 1 as Ace.

Game: Fast Multiplication

The first activity/game we recommend is simply spreading out the cards face up on the table, and then find sets of three cards with two numbers that you can multiply to get the product on the third card. Each player does this in turn at first to learn how it works and get used to the cards. Once you get the hang of it, you can speed it up and let all players to it at the same time! We call this game “Fast Multiplication” when the players compete (in a frenzy!) to collect the most sets of three cards. This is as fun for adults as for kids, and it provides a great opportunity for “helping with the math homework”. This is fun brain training which you can repeat any time you like.

Game: Multiplication Memory

If this gets too easy, try turning all the cards face down and play Multiplication Memory, where you have to collect sets of three cards according to the same rules as in Fast Multiplication. Unlike regular Memory where you turn over 2 cards and look for pairs, here you’ll have to turn 3 cards at a time – and if you want to make the game easier just turn 4, 5 or even 6 cards at a time. This will make it easier to find a set of 3 cards each time, which is more fun and makes the game go faster.

Division and Fractions

And now comes the thing you can do with our cards that you cannot do with a regular deck of Math Flash Cards – you’d need a separate deck for that – by running the calculation in reverse you can practice Division instead of Multiplication, as shown in the User Guide. Going even further, by flipping the Division calculation on its head you are suddenly working with Fractions instead of whole numbers – again see the User Guide for an illustration of how this works. Now you can play for instance Fast Division or Fractions Memory!

Addition and Subtraction

Simply add/subtract the numbers on two cards and find the answer on a third card, just like for Multiplication or Division. Important: Not all numbers between 0 and 144 are printed on the cards, so if you cannot find the answer when you add numbers from two cards, then try adding numbers from three or four cards instead.

Games: Addition War, Subtraction War, Multiplication War and Division War

Instead of regular War you can play Addition War (each player adds up 2 card values instead of just comparing 1 card each). Or you can play Subtraction War, where you will have 2 different possible answers, unless your two cards have the same value. So you have to think about which answer to choose in order to win! The same goes for Multiplication War (multiply the card values) and Division War (divide the card values and choose between the two possibilities), except that you are not allowed to divide by zero, so in case you draw a zero card in Division War, your answer is zero, and if you get two zero cards you have to draw again.

A fun twist in the rules is that the lowest card value wins the battle instead of the highest value! This is especially fun if you play Subtraction or Division War.

Game: Arithmetic War

A more advanced possibility is that you can choose either Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division with your 2 cards. If you play like this, it is also fun if you add two dice to the game, either with 6 sides (with 1-6 eyes) or with 12 sides (with numbers 1-12). Throw the dice and add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers/number of eyes. The answer you get will be the goal of the calculation you do with the cards, instead of just finding the highest or lowest value as in regular War.

Games: Go Fish Addition, Go Fish Subtraction, Go Fish Multiplication, Go Fish Division

Instead of collecting 4 cards with equal values like in regular Go Fish (which you can also play with your deck of Simply Clever Arithmetic), you can collect 3 cards where the numbers on two of the cards are either added, subtracted, multiplied or divided to get the number on the third card. You can

Game: Go Fish Arithmetic

Collect 4 cards and choose any combination of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division with the first 3 cards in order to get the number on the 4th card.

Games: Addition Uno, Subtraction Uno, Multiplication Uno, Division Uno and Arithmetic Uno (a.k.a. Crazy 8s)

Instead of matching colors (suits) or numbers between the card you play from your hand and the card on the table, you have to play two cards from your hand so that the numbers on these two cards can be either added, subtracted, multiplied or divided (if you play Arithmetic Uno, you can choose any of these, otherwise stick to one of them) to get the number on the card on the table. If you cannot find such a play, you can decide that it is allowed to math the color with one card to make the game easier. However, the best strategy to win is to play two cards since you will get rid of your cards faster that way.

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