Estimation can help them learn to see at a glance whether their final answer makes sense. Here’s an activity that will improve your teen’s skills in solving percentage problems. You’ll need a calculator and some index cards.

On each of 10 cards, put a price ($10.99, $79.95, etc.) and a discount in percentages (15%, 30%, and so on). You may want to cut out ads from the newspaper to add a touch of reality.

Have your teen turn the cards over, one by one, and write the estimated final price on the back of the card. Check each. Estimate with the calculator. The player whose estimation came closest to the actual price on each item earns one point.

To make this more challenging, look for ads that say “Save 20%—now $14.99.” Ask your teen to figure the original price of the item.

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