Note on mathematical language:
Children should be encouraged to talk about the 'thousands', 'units' etc rather than 'the space on the left' and, as always, refer to 0 as 'nought' or 'zero' and not as 'oh'.

As a game 'Highs and Lows' is played by two players or teams (which can be the two halves of a class or group).

You will need two boards like the one above, one for each player or team, and the set of 10 cards numbered 0 - 9.

Click to download a photocopiable sheet with 2 boards and 10 number cards to print out.

The object of the game is to make the highest (or later, lowest) number on your board.

To play Highs and Lows

Place the cards face down.

The first player (or team member) takes a card and places it on the board in a suitable place. For example, if it is 0 or 1 it should probably go in the units' space, if 8 or 9 in the thousands'. Once a card is placed it may not be moved.

Then the second player takes a card and places it on the other board. They continue to do this in turn until the boards are full.

The winner is the player with the highest number.

When the game is well understood, aim for the lowest number.

Variations:

• The game can be played with boards with just 3 (or even 2) spaces for younger children
• It can be played with three players but 2 sets of number cards will be needed.
• The number aimed for can be changed to such things as 'highest even number', 'lowest odd number', 'the nearest to 5000', etc.
• A decimal point can be added to the boards to show that decimals work in the same way as numbers larger than one.