Addition War is played similar to traditional War, except each player flips over two cards at a time and adds them to make a sum. The player that has the greatest sum takes the trick and gets the other player's two cards. To integrate more of a math component, have students orally state the equation. For example, if a player flips a three and an eight, he should say, "Three plus eight equals 11." Addition War is suitable for grades one to four students but can be modified for enrichment or older students by switching the operation to subtraction or multiplication.
Wild War is well-suited for grades three to six students and can incorporate as many of the four operations as you wish. Each player flips over three cards and performs any operations to result in the highest number. For example, if a player flips a two, four and five, she could make the equation "four times five plus two equals 22," or "five times four times two equals forty." The player with the greatest answer takes the trick and get the other player's three cards.
In Fraction War each player flips two cards. The smallest number is used as the numerator and the largest is used as the denominator to form a fraction. The student with the largest fraction takes the trick and gets the other player's two cards. Have the student with the larger fraction make an oral statement, such as "four fifths is greater than two eigths." This game can also be used to practice improper fractions by using the largest card as the denominator and the smallest card as the numerator. Fraction War works best when students are very comfortable with fractions, generally with students in grade five and higher.
Place Value War teaches grade one and two learners about the hundreds, tens and ones place. Each player flips three cards and arranges them to make the largest possible number. For example, if a player flips a one, two and six, the cards can be arranged to form the number "621." The player with the largest number takes the trick and gets the other player's three cards. The teacher may ask students to verbally state each number's place value by saying "six hundreds, two tens and one one makes 621."