Shapes and Addition

Have your students moved beyond simple counting and comparing numbers? They may be ready to start building a conceptual understanding of addition. 

Here is a fun math game for making 20. Students will add peas to the carrot cards until they reach the total. Use the playing cards from our special edition math pack

Each player gets 4 carrot cards for a total of 20.

adding to 20

To integrate some 2D shapes into the activity, put some blocks into a bag, tub, container or pouch to conceal them. Upon their turn, students will take one out and identify how many sides it has - for example, if they take a triangle they will say '3'. 

2d shape attributes

They take a matching number of peas and place them on their first carrot card. 

building sets of 5 to make 20

Players keep adding peas as they work towards 20 by identifying how many sides on various shapes (you could also roll a dice). 

adding to 20

The first student to make 20 wins! 

math game peas and carrots

Don't forget:

  • encourage students to talk about how many they have so far as their total changes
  • encourage students to identify how many places they are yet to fill to make 20
  • to challenge students to count by 5 upon completion

Find the 20

You may like this Find the 20 activity card game for your students too!