School Friendly Playing Cards

These School Friendly Playing Cards have been specially designed with younger learners in mind, offering a developmentally appropriate alternative to traditional decks. Instead of face cards such as Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces, this set includes numerals up to 13-beginning with 0 and continuing through to 11, 12, and 13. The cards eliminate traditional suits, replacing them with four distinct colours and geometric shapes: triangles, rectangles, squares, and circles. Each shape is displayed in standard subitising patterns to encourage instant recognition of quantities without the need to count each shape individually. This thoughtful design helps children engage with number concepts in a playful, inclusive, and accessible way. Ideal for classrooms, maths groups, or early years settings, these cards support a range of numeracy activities and reinforce key mathematical foundations such as patterning, number recognition, and comparison. They also foster social interaction and cooperative learning through games, helping children build confidence and fluency in an enjoyable format.

Educational Benefits:

• Promotes number recognition and numeral order from 0 to 13.
• Supports subitising skills through visual shape patterns.
• Develops early mathematical vocabulary related to shapes and colours.
• Encourages inclusive play by removing complex face cards and suits.

Classroom Ideas:

• Use in small group games to practise comparing numbers or ordering sequences.
• Incorporate into shape-sorting or colour-matching activities.
• Play card-based addition or subtraction games to build fluency with basic facts.
• Design simple board games where students draw cards to complete maths challenges.

Information:

• Ages: Suitable for Foundation to Year 3
• Measurements: Standard card size - approximately 8.8 cm (H) x 6.3 cm (W)