LET'S PLAY
by Carol Goodrow
 MATERIALS NEEDED:
-Kid-Made Cards: markers, stickers, crayons, glue, oak tag
Make many sets of odd and even cards: 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and on up to 23 and 24.
Make hearts, wolves, butterflies, stars, squares, trapezoids, dogs, cars, and anything you can imagine!
-To Play: clipboards for a windy day, baskets or bins on a calm day
-display board to tape collected pairs of cards
SETTING:
-gym or field
(You can play a walking version in the classroom.)
GETTING READY:
Create a starting line about 50 yards from a line of 5 or more bins filled with the ODD CARDS in the center of the field. These are all mixed up and put into the bins for easy access.
Place bins with the EVEN CARDS around the perimeter of the field. You may want to sort by number: put cards with the lower numbers (2, 4, 6) at the first corner, (8, 10, 12) at the next corner, (14, 16, 18) at the next, and the highest numbers (20, 22, 24) at the last to make it easier for children to find their even matches.
 PLAY:
On "Ready, set, go!" the kids walk to the bins, pick a card, then run to GET EVEN by finding a card's even match. Example, The child who finds 5, must run to find the 6 card that matches the 5. The child must JOG back with another child who has found an even match for his/her card. When back to the start line, they tape their cards to a card board and then go again by walking to the bins with the odd cards.
 Play continues in this way.
On completion of the game, children write a journal entry telling all about the game, "GET EVEN!"
MAKE UP YOUR OWN VERSION
It's always best to adapt a game to your group's needs. Here are some possibilities:
1. Substitute jogging for walking.
2. Write the type of locomotion on the back of the odd cards. Use more than running. Add skip, dance, leap, etc.
3. Supply the ODD CARDS, but have kids make the even match at the EVEN bins. Have blank cards and markers there. This is a good adaptation for after they have played the game with the pre-made cards and know it well.
4. Create teams and require kids to create a whole set of numbers from 1-20.
5. Make cards showing doubles or near doubles. EX: The 7 is made by a set of 3 and 4 pictures. The six is made to show 4 and 4.
 This version of GET EVEN! by Carol Goodrow was created to thank Wendy Petti of Math Cats for her wonderful math Web site. Please visit mathcats.com.
"Classroom" art is by Ryan.
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GET EVEN !