The start number is on the left, the goal on the right. In between lie calculation cards like +5, −3 or ×2. You play all the cards one after the other on the start number, each exactly once.
The order decides: with the start number 4, first +5 and then ×2 gives 18, but first ×2 and then +5 gives only 13.
Try out the orders and work through each one step by step. Only one order lands exactly on the goal. Write the letters of the cards into the boxes in that order.
Example
For parents
What does this exercise practice?
The child finds out that plus, minus and times cannot be swapped at will: multiplying before adding works differently than after. It plans a chain of calculations, tries systematically and checks every guess by working it out.
Common pitfalls
Many children work through the cards in the order of the letters A, B, C. The printed order is never the solution, though. It helps to write down the number after every card and, at a dead end, to swap the last two cards.
How to practice at home
Take three slips of paper with +2, ×3 and −1 and a start number. Which numbers come out for the six orders? Write them down and find the biggest and the smallest.
Related: Points Times Factor, Open Middle