Probability Game

What You Need:

• Deck of cards with the face cards (jacks, queens, and kings), tens and aces removed

What You Do:

1. Place three cards on the table, face up. Together, you and your child should pick out four numbers to be the target numbers.
2. Turn the cards face down and shuffle them thoroughly.
3. Ask your kid to bet for, or against, you turning over a card that features one of his target numbers.
4. Flip over four of the cards. Ask your child if any of the cards you flipped over feature a target number.
5. If he bet that you'd turn a target number card over and you did, he earns two points. If he bet that you wouldn't turn over a target card and you didn't he earns one point. If he bet that you would turn over a target card and you didn't he loses a point, and if he bet that you wouldn't turn a target card over and you did, he loses 1 point.
6. Play for an even number rounds, as you'd like, then tabulate the score. If his score is positive, he wins. If it's negative, you win.
7. Does he think this is a good game to bet money on? If there was only 1 target number, instead of 4, what would happen to the probability of a given card being turned over?
8. Try to work together to figure out a similar card game that would have about the same probability as the one just played.