Loop Cards Generator — I Have, Who Has?

What this generator does

Lays out a teacher’s own question-and-answer pairs as loop cards and a calling order, and proves the set plays one way. The tarsia puzzle generator uses the same kind of pairs for a table-top jigsaw and the flashcard sheet puts a question and its answer on the two sides of one card; this is the whole-class game, where each card holds one pair’s answer and the next pair’s question.

How to use this tool

1. Type or paste your pairs, one per line, with the question first and its answer after an equals sign, a bar or a tab.
2. Choose a closed loop, where any card can start, or an open chain with a START and an END card.
3. Press Make the cards. If anything in the list could be claimed by two cards, the lines are listed and nothing is printed until they are fixed.
4. Read the check under the result, then print the cards and the teacher’s calling order.
5. Cut along the dashed lines and hand out one or more cards to each pupil.

Understanding the controls

Your questions and answers

One pair per line. A tab or a bar is used as the separator if the line has one, otherwise the first equals sign, so “3 + 4 = 7” reads as the question 3 + 4 with the answer 7. A trailing question mark is dropped from the question because the card adds its own. From 4 to 60 pairs, which is one card per pair.

Shape of the chain

A closed loop has as many cards as pairs and the last answer sits on the first card, so the game can start anywhere and you know it has finished when the first card is called. An open chain adds a START card that only asks and an END card that only answers, so it has one more card and a fixed beginning.

Cards per sheet

Six, eight or twelve. The cards fill the sheet, so fewer per sheet means bigger cards and bigger writing; long questions are set smaller only as far as they need to fit.

Seed

The order of the chain and the numbering of the cards both come from the seed. The same pairs, chain shape and seed give the same cards again while the generator is unchanged.

What to print

The cards, the teacher’s calling order, or both. The order lists every card number with the question it asks and the card that should answer, so a stalled game can be restarted.

Worked examples

Twelve times-table facts, closed loop, seed maple

Twelve cards. The teacher’s order starts with the card that asks one of the twelve questions; its answer is on another card, which asks the next question, and the twelfth card asks the question whose answer is on the first. The check line confirms one loop of twelve.

A set that is refused

With both “half = 0.5” and “two quarters = 1/2” in the list, the cards are not made: the two answers are the same number written two ways, so a pupil holding either could stand up for “Who has half?”. Change one pair and make the cards again.

Open chain of six pairs

Seven cards: START asks the first question, five cards each answer one question and ask the next, and the END card holds the last answer and nothing else.

Common use cases

• A times-table or number-bond starter that the whole class plays together
• Vocabulary in a language lesson, with the word on one side and its translation on the other
• Key terms and definitions before a test
• Revising dates, capitals or formulae with a set the teacher has written
• A listening game where every pupil has to follow along to know when it is their turn

How this generator works

Your lines are read first, and every way two cards could claim one question is looked for: the same question twice, the same answer twice, answers that are one number written differently (0.5 and 1/2, 1½ and 3/2), a question that is written exactly as another pair’s answer, a sum whose answer is wrong, and a sum that works out to another pair’s answer. Text is compared ignoring capitals, extra spaces and punctuation at either end; numbers are compared exactly as fractions. If anything is found the lines are listed and no cards are made. Otherwise the pairs are put in a shuffled order, and card k is given the answer of pair k − 1 and the question of pair k; in a closed loop the first card holds the last answer. The printed numbering is a second, separate shuffle, so card numbers say nothing about the order. Finally a check reads only the printed cards and the pair list: for each card’s question it finds every card whose answer matches, requires exactly one, follows the chain, and confirms the walk passes every card once, closes (or runs from START to END) and matches the teacher’s order.

Randomness and fairness

Two shuffles decide everything random here: the order of the pairs around the chain, and the card numbers printed on the sheet. Both come from one repeatable sequence started from the seed, and when no seed is typed a new one is drawn from your browser’s secure random source and shown, so the set can be printed again. The seeded sequence is for reproducibility, not cryptographically strong, so a seed repeats a set and keeps nothing secret.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Assumptions this tool makes

• Each pair’s answer is the only right answer to its question. Only the ways the cards could clash are checked; for sums, the arithmetic is checked as well.
• Every card is handed out. A closed loop with a card missing stops at the gap.

Limitations and good to know

• Clashes are found from the text only. Two answers that mean the same thing in words (“a dozen” and “12”), or that sound the same read aloud (“two” and “too”), are not detected — read the list once aloud before printing.
• Sums are recognised only when the question is a plain sum of numbers with +, −, ×, x, ÷ or /, optionally starting “what is”; worded questions such as “half of 24” are compared as text.
• A comma in a number is never read as a decimal point or a thousands separator, so “1,5” is compared as text.
• Up to 60 pairs and 80 characters a side, so every card stays readable once cut out.

Common mistakes

Two pairs with the same answer, such as 3 × 4 and 2 × 6

Two pupils would both stand. Swap one for a fact with a different answer; the tool lists the lines that clash.

Handing out fewer cards than the set has

Give some pupils two cards, or make a smaller set. The calling order lets you read a missing card yourself.

Practical tips

• Print the cards on card stock, and keep the teacher’s order in your hand while the class plays.
• Time a round and play again with the cards redealt; the chain is the same, so the time can only improve by listening.
• For a class of thirty with fifteen facts, make two sets with different seeds and play them as two teams.

Privacy and your data

Your pairs are turned into cards in your browser and are not sent, saved or put in the page address. The site’s counters record only that a set was made, refused or failed, and how many cards it had — never what the cards say.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a closed loop and an open chain?

In a closed loop every card has an answer and a question and the last question is answered by the first card, so any card can start. In an open chain a START card begins and an END card finishes, which needs one card more than you have pairs.

Why were my pairs refused?

Because at least one question could be answered by two different cards, which would make two pupils stand up at once. The message names the lines; usually it is a repeated answer, or the same number written two ways.

Do the card numbers give the order away?

No. The numbers are shuffled separately from the chain, so card 1 is not first and card 2 does not follow it. The teacher’s calling order is the only place the order is printed.

Can I make the same cards for another class?

Yes. Type the seed shown under the result, with the same pairs and chain shape, and the cards come out the same while the generator is unchanged.