31-Derful Playing Card Activity

In this activity, players use a standard deck of cards to create a 5 by 5 grid where each column and row
adds up to 31.
Materials
Large working space
Standard deck of playing cards (Jokers not used)
My Solution:
Since the existing grid is 5 by 5 and a standard deck of playing cards only has 4 of each number
(exception: 10), I eventually determined that I must focus on the outer ring first in order to reduce the
grid size to 3 by 3. I was using cards in sequence (e.g. 3, 4, 5) until I realized that I needed to leave space
between the numbers or I would run out of cards. Therefore, I focused on the outer ring using only
even numbers. It turns out that the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8, A adds up to 31! I assumed I would need to use
a pattern, so I played around with the pattern until I noticed that all the inside (incomplete) rows and
columns added up to the same amount: 8! This meant I had effectively reduced my grid to a 3 by 3 grid.
If my outer grid already had 8 toward the needed 31, then my 3 by 3 grid needed to add up to 23. This
was easily accomplished using two face cards with a 3 in a pattern so that each column and row had two
face cards and one 3 card. Voila!