I’d always thought flash cards would be one of those things I’d never do. But at some point, I realized that the problem wasn’t the genre, it was the execution. Flash cards were either context-free or cluttered with nonsense.

What they needed was meaningful visuals.

Bizarrely, visual flash cards for multiplication didn’t seem to exist. So I designed some. And now I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to get them printed. It just went live 2 and a half hours ago. And happily, it’s already 40% funded!

Here’s what they look like.

They feature the dominant multiplication ideas of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, and can be used for older kids too. They start with skip counting and the idea of multiplication as groups of. Then they pivot into understanding multiplication problems are representing arrays, i.e., rectangles with given numbers of rows and columns.

Finally, we have prime factors, using the visualization from our board game, Prime Climb.

Because the deck uses meaningful images, it becomes possible to play games, pose puzzles, and explore deeper mathematics. I’m going to be sharing these ideas throughout the campaign.

If you’re interested in getting a deck, or just in supporting the campaign, you can head to Kickstarter and learn more now.

Whether or not you decide to support us, it’s hugely helpful to spread the word. So if you know anyone you think would like to have something like this, please let them know!

Our games Tiny Polka Dot and Prime Climb were both Kickstarter campaigns first, and the support we received from those campaigns convinced us that people want more meaningful math experiences for themselves and their kids.

I hope you’ll help us in this project if you can!