If Your Kids Are Struggling With Math, This Game Will Help

4 min readJun 23, 2022

Mathematics is not about numbers or equations. It is about understanding.
— William Paul Thurston

It’s not a secret that many of our kids struggle with math.

Despite the big bucks many parents invest in private tutoring and similar programs, the confidence and self-assurance that children exhibit in other spheres of life, is often missing when it comes to mathematics.

The good news, however, is that most kids don’t need to become world class mathematicians, statisticians, or physicists. Instead, what they need (and what many are missing), is basic agility with numbers, and the confidence to manipulate these numbers on the fly to help solve everyday problems.

Helping kids develop and hone these skills is what the Math 24 Game is all about.

Origins of the ‘Math 24’ Game
Ways to Play ‘Math 24'
Thirty ‘Math 24’ Puzzles To Get Started

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Origins of ‘Math 24’

Math 24 Game originated in Shanghai and was played using a deck of playing cards. Here are the rules:

Step 1: all face cards are removed, with aces assigned a value of 1
Step 2: four cards are drawn and dealt face up on the table
Step 3: first player to achieve the number 24 using the cards dealt wins the hand (only basic arithmetic operations are allowed … +, -, x, /)

Puzzle Examples

Let’s take a look at two different ‘Math 24’ hands to get a better idea of how the game is played (goal is to rapidly combine card values to achieve the number 24):

Puzzle #1

solution: (1 x 2 x 3 x 4) = 24

Puzzle #2

solution: (5 +3) × (6 —3) = 24

Playable Puzzles

There are a total of 1,362 solvable ‘Math 24’ puzzles.

According to the online community, the easiest and hardest ‘24’ puzzles are as follows:

1 1 4 6 (easiest, with a solve rate of 99.2%)
2 3 5 12 (hardest, with a solve rate of 20.2%)

Some puzzles have only one solution, while others have multiple, with the most prolific number combination boasting 11 unique solutions, that being (2 4 8 10).

Ways to Play ‘Math 24’

Math 24 can be played with a deck of cards or online.

Here’s how me and my daughter typically play:

I write out 10 to 15 ’24 puzzles’ in a notebook for her to solve
she solves as many as possible
after she’s done, it’s my turn to solve the same puzzles
after I’m done, we compare our solutions

In addition to using ‘Math 24’ as a scholastic tool, parents can also leverage the game in other creative ways:

‘Win’ a Prize

Let’s say little Katy really wants to go out for ice cream (again). Instead of the standard, Yes or No, parents can use ‘Math 24’ as a way for Katy to ‘unlock’ the prize.

If Katy can solve a ‘24’ puzzle, she ‘wins’ her ice cream. And if not, then its additional motivation to solve the puzzle next time.

I was blown away by the satisfaction radiating from my daughter’s face when she ‘won’ her first ice cream cone, rather than it just being handed to her. There was a difference!

Road Trips

Any parent can attest that family road trips can quickly devolve into a ‘bit’ of an ordeal, and keeping everyone busy, entertained and well-behaved is a constant challenge.

For our family, the ‘Math 24’ game is a reliable tool in our ‘keep the kids entertained’ toolbelt. It serves as great back-up plan when it’s time to take a break from watching Netflix or from downloading another video game.

Thirty ‘Math 24’ Puzzles to Get Started

If you would like to give ’Math 24’ a try, here are 30 puzzles to get you started (for additional puzzles, click here)

3 5 9 13
2 6 8 8
4 7 8 13
3 3 6 9
4 9 9 10
2 3 4 10
3 3 7 9
1 5 6 13
6 9 10 11
1 2 5 10
5 7 9 13
4 5 6 10
1 3 5 9
2 3 6 9
2 4 6 12
2 4 6 7
1 2 8 13
3 6 9 12
2 6 8 12
2 2 8 8
1 2 3 13
2 3 6 6
1 3 8 13
2 3 6 13
3 4 6 8
4 4 8 12
3 4 6 6
2 4 5 6
2 4 6 8
2 3 6 12