Is your kid spending too much time on screen? Sometimes we just forget that simple pack of cards can keep your kids away from the screen and they will enjoy hours of fun!
Why cards? There are many reasons! Cards are inexpensive. They are also easily portable which means you can take them with you when you are traveling! Another great reason why we like cards is that the whole families can enjoy playing cards together or kids can play in groups on their own!
So what are some common card games for kids? We have put together our top list for you. If you don’t know how to play, keep reading and we will take you through every single one of them!
1. Go Fish
The game begins when the player to the left of the dealer “fishes” by asking another player if they have a certain card in their hand (e.g. “Do you have any Queens?”). If the player does have the type of card asked for, they must give the asker all of that type they possess. The asker then continues questioning the same or a different player if they have another or the same type of card. If a player does not have the typed asked for, they say “go fish” and the asker picks up the top card from the ocean. The gameplay then moves to the left and the next person fishes for cards.
A player makes a book when they have 4 of a kind. When a book is made, the player places the 4 cards face up in a pile in front of them to verify to the other players that they made a book. The game ends when all 13 books are made. The player with the most books wins. If a player runs out of cards during the game, they may select one from the ocean when it is their turn. If there are no more cards in the ocean, they are out of the game and the number of books they have is final.
2. Old Maid
After everybody receives their cards, players make any pairs they can with their hand and place them facing down on the table. The dealer then holds out their hand facing down (so that no one can see the cards) towards the player to their left. The player left of the dealer then chooses one random card from the other players hand and add it to their own. The player left of the dealer tries to make another pair with this new card. If they can, the pair is added to their pile of pairs. If they cannot, the card remains in their deck. The player left of the dealer then offers their hand faced down to the player to their left and gameplay proceeds as before.
Players can “Go Out” and be safe from becoming the Old Maid in two ways: they can pair up all of their cards or the player to their left takes their last card for the draw.
Because one of the Queens was removed, there will always be an unpaired Queen. The player who has it at the end of the game becomes the Old Maid and loses.
3. Memory
Beginning with the player who drew the highest card and going clockwise, players take turns flipping over two cards. If the cards form a pair, then the player takes them from the grid for themselves. If the cards do not form a pair, then the player flips them back over on the same spot as before. Both cards should only remain flipped up for 5 seconds before being flipped back down again. Every player should be able to see the cards’ position.
After all of the cards have been paired up, the player with the most pairs wins.
4. Snap
Gameplay begins starting with the player left of the dealer and proceeding clockwise. On their turn, players will flip up the top card in their pile and build up a new pile face up in front of them. If two top cards in any flipped-up pile form a pair, any player may shout “Snap!” and receive the cards in both piles. If two or more players shout “Snap!” at the same time and it can’t be judged who said it first, the cards go to the middle of the gameplay area and form the Snap Pot. If the top card from the Snap Pot pairs with any of the players’ top cards, someone may shout “Snap Pot!” and receive all of the cards in the middle. The player who wins all of the cards wins.
If a player flips up all of their cards, the flipped-up pile is shuffled to form a new pile.
If a player loses all of their cards, they are given one chance to win cards in the next opportunity to say Snap. If they do not say snap or someone says it before them, they are out of the game. If they form a Snap Pot on their next opportunity, they are given an additional chance.
5. Crazy Eights
Starting with the person to the left of the dealer, players try to get rid of their cards by placing them on top of the flipped up card in the center. Players may do so if the card they want to get rid of is the same rank or suit of the card flipped up. 8s are wild and if a player plays an eight, they must state what suit the eight will be for the next player.
If a player cannot place any of their cards on the one in the centre, they must draw cards from the stock until they can do so or until they’ve drawn a maximum of five cards.
6. Rummy
Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. Every turn begins with the player selecting one card from either the stock or the discard pile. If at any point in the game the stock pile runs out, the discard pile is shuffled to form a new stock pile. The last card in the new stock pile becomes the first card in the discard pile. The general goal of the game is to get rid of your cards as fast as possible. This can be done is three ways: Melding, Laying Off or Discarding.
7. Rolling Stone
The player left of the dealer begins by playing any card. Going clockwise, players must follow suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they must pick up the cards played, add them to their hand, and begin a new round.
If play gets back to the original player and everybody follows suit, then the person who played the highest card takes the pile and begins a new round.
The player who gets rid of all of their cards first wins the game.
8. Cheat
Deal the cards out evenly. If there are remainders, place them face down in the center of the table as the beginning of the discard pile.
Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. He places the Aces in his hand facedown on the discard pile and announces his play to the table: “One Ace.” If the player does not have any Aces, or if he wishes to get rid of more than one card, he may bluff and play non-Ace cards while announcing: “Two Aces.” The next player plays 2s, the next player plays 3s, and so on. If a player doesn’t believe an announcement, he can call out, “Cheat!” The person who played the cards must turn them over and show the challenger whether he is bluffing or not. A player who is caught bluffing must pick up the entire discard pile and add it to his hand. If a challenged player is not bluffing, then the challenger must pick up the discard pile. When the rank to play reaches Kings, it then goes back to Aces and the numbers start again.
9. War
Both players place the top card of their deck onto the center of the table. The player whose card is higher in value takes both cards and places them in a separate pile next to their deck. Once a player runs out of cards in their deck, they shuffle all of the cards in their win pile and continue to play.
If players play cards of the same value, then there is a war. Players will place three of their cards faced down on the table and draw again. The winner of the war takes both pairs of played cards and the three cards faced down, winning five of their opponent’s cards. If both cards of the second draw are also equal, the process is repeated and three more cards are laid faced down.
The player who wins all of the cards, wins the game.
10. Slap Jack
Starting with the person to the left of the dealer and going clockwise, players place the top card of their deck into the center of the group. Players must draw away from them so that everybody sees what the card is at once. If the card drawn is a Jack, players try to be the first one to slap the deck to win all of the cards in the pile. The pile is shuffled and added to the winner’s pile. The player who eventually gets all of the cards wins.
If players slap the pile without there being a Jack, that player must give a card to the player who laid down the previous card.
When a person runs out of cards, they have one chance to win a slap. If, for instance, a player runs out of cards, a Jack is played, and they lose the slap, they are out of the game.
If a card is played on top of a jack before anyone can slap it, the jack is lost and play continues.
11. Spoons
The dealer begins the game by drawing a card from the deck. The dealer then discards a card and passes it clockwise. This pattern continues: once a player receives a card, they then must discard a card clockwise. Players can only have seven cards in their hand at a time. The goal is to form a four of a kind.
Once a player has gotten a four of a kind, they must place a finger on their nose. The other players must follow the action after they notice it. The last player to put a finger on their nose loses the round.
In Spoons, instead of placing a finger on their nose, players grab a spoon from the centre of the group. There is always one less spoon than the number of players so, the person who does not get a spoon after a player gets a four of a kind loses that round.
12. My Ship Sails
My Ship Sails is a children’s version of Spoons. The set up is the same but instead of four cards, players get seven and instead of looking for four of a kind, players try and get seven cards in the same suit. The player who achieves that shouts “My Ship Sails” to win the game.
13. Spit
P
layers begin gameplay by each placing the top card of their spit pile onto the center of the playing table. Players then use the two piles to get rid of cards in their tableau. Players can get rid of cards if the card is up facing on their tableau and follows in increasing or decreasing sequence to the cards in the center. Players can also place cards on their own tableau piles as long as the cards follow in sequence. In Spit, Aces can be high and low so, they can be played against a King and a 2. Once a card is played, players will flip up the top card of the pile they just played from and continue in the game.
There are no turns in Spit. Instead, players try to get rid of their tableau as soon as possible. If no player can play against any of the cards in the center, players play the top card in their spit pile.
Once one of the players gets rid of their tableau, any player can quickly slap either of the two center piles. The first one to do so keeps the pile they slap while the other player gets the other pile. Because the objective is to ultimately get rid of all of your cards, players should try to slap the pile with the fewest cards. After a round, players will shuffle their cards and build a new tableau and continue playing.
If both players do not have spit piles and neither can play on the center cards, the round is over and players try to slap the pile with the fewest cards.
When a player cannot build a full tableau, there will only be one pile in the centre. Gameplay continues until one player loses all of their cards.
Reference: https://playingcarddecks.com/blogs/