Ollie's Race to 24

What you need

• Deck of cards, 1 deck
• Paper, 1 sheet per player
• Crayons or markers, 1 per player
• Phone, 1, for a one-minute timer

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Sort the deck so the face cards (jacks, queens, kings) are set aside. Keep aces, which count as 1, and the 2 through 10 cards. Clear a small table or patch of floor where everyone can see the cards.

1. Pull out the face cards and set them aside.
2. Learn what each card is worth.
3. Shuffle the cards and put the deck face down in the middle.
4. Flip four cards face up in a row, and write the four numbers down.
   Ask: Which numbers jump out at you first?
5. Make 24 using each card exactly once.
6. Call out Otter! and read your answer from your paper.
   Ask: What did you do first, and why?
7. No answer after one minute? Flip four new cards.
8. Give a point to each solver and keep playing.
9. Now challenge a friend, or find a second way to make 24!
   Ask: How many different ways can you make 24 from one set of cards?

Play it again

• Face card fun: put the face cards back in and count them as 11, 12 and 13.
• Beat the clock: shorten the timer to 30 seconds for each round.
• Team splash: work together as one team and see how many sets you can solve in 10 minutes.