Do you know what is the best option to keep your kids busy and make them remain indoors when you don’t want them to leave or when it is not suitable to get outside? If that is you, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with fun card games for kids. All you need is a deck of cards, some time from your busy schedule and finally, the attention of your kids.
In today’s generation, kids know about a myriad of digital games, such as Minecraft and Super Mario World, but, when it comes to other games, like those involving cards, they hardly know anything about it. Today, in this blog we will shed light on the different types of card games that you can explore along with your kids. Not only will it help your kids sharpen their wits and intellectual abilities, but it will also allow you to spend some quality time with them. Therefore, it is imperative for you to know which card games suit you and your kids the best.
Given below are some of the top interesting card games for kids.
Some fun and easy card games for kids
Beggar My Neighbor
This popular card game for kids is also known as Strip-Jack Naked, Beat Your Neighbors Out of the Door, as well as Beat Jack Out of the Door. It is a card game in which two or more players can participate. You need a fifty-two card deck to play this game.
First, simply divide the deck between two players and place them on the table facing down. The first player has to lay down the top card face up to start a central pile. Then, the opponents play their top cards by laying them face-up on top of the central pile. This process repeats until a player puts forward an Ace or a court card. These cards are popularly called “penalty cards”.
If one player turns up such a card, their opponents have to compensate four cards for an Ace, three for a King, two for a Queen, or one for a Jack. After doing so, if all the cards are numbers, the player of the penalty card wins the hand and takes all the cards in the pile and places them under his stack.
The game continues in this fashion with the winner having the benefit of placing the first card. However, if another player turns up an Ace or a court card during the game, he can cease to compensate the winner. Instead, all other players now begin to pay him the cards they owe. This penalization continues until another Ace or court card turns up. The player who has all of the cards in the deck in their bundle wins the game.
This is one of the most wonderful card games for kids as it will help them sharpen their minds and mathematical skills.
Snip Snap Snorum
The game of Snip Snap Snorum, also known as Snip Snap Snorem, is another popular game among children. It is a matching type game that originated in England. This game necessitates the participation of two or more players as well as a French stack of fifty-two cards. Snip Snap Snorum can be enjoyed in many different ways. The cards are dealt one at a time, and the eldest hand places upon the table any card of his preference. The other players then try to match the card that is played just before theirs.
They play it while mumbling one of the prescribed words: “Snip!”, “Snap!” or “Snorem!” in order. Thus, if a King is played, the next player lays down another King blurting “Snip!”. The next player may lay down the third King, if present, saying “Snap!”. Likewise, the player who puts forward the fourth King says the word “Snorem!”. Those players who can not pair the card played are not eligible to play any card of their own. Thereafter, the owner of snorem has the freedom of starting the next game.
Go Fish
Go fish is an amazing card game for children which is usually played by two to five players. Moreover, it is a matching-type game that allows four to ten-year-old kids to improve their matching and pairing skills.
Five cards are swapped from a standard 52-card deck to each participant, or seven cards if there are just two participants. The remaining cards are distributed among the players and usually spread out in a disorderly manner, which is referred to as the “ocean” or “pool” of cards.
In this game, the participant asks the other player for cards of a particular face value during his turn. For example, he may ask, “do you have any twos?” The first player must have at least one card of the rank he requested. Meanwhile, the second player has to hand over all cards of that rank. However, if he has none, then he has to ask the first player to “go fish”.
Thereafter, the first player draws a card from the pool and sets it in his hand. Then, it is the second player’s turn – unless the card he drew is the card the first player asked for, in which case he shows it to the other players, and he gets another turn.
When any player at any time has four cards of one face value, it forms a book. The cards must be placed face-up in front of the player. After that, the play continues to the left. The game ends when all books have been laid down in stacks. The participant with the most books wins.
This game is very interesting to play with multiple people and kids especially love this kind of exciting activity.
Pig
Pig is a wonderful game for kids aged seven and above. To start playing this game, assemble the deck of cards out into stacks of four of the same kind. Set aside one stack for each player and remove the rest of the stacks.
Shuffle the selected stacks well, and deal four cards to each participant. The objective of the game is mainly to collect four cards of the same type. The participants must have to choose a card of their choice and place it face down towards their left simultaneously. Then, they pick up the cards, placed down by the players to their right. Once a participant collects all four cards of the same type, the participant must instantly put a finger on their nose.
The other players also have to put a finger on their nose even if they don’t have four of a kind. The last player to catch sight of the others and place a finger on his nose gets the letter “P” given to him.
The first participant to achieve all the letters P, I, and G (PIG) is out of the game. The last participant left in the game becomes the winner. This kind of game is easy and fun to play, making it a favourite among kids.
Slapjack
The game, Slapjack is popularly called slaps and is a matching-type card game. It requires three to four players and a standard French deck. In this game, a fifty-two card deck is divided equally into face-down stacks among all the players. One player then removes the first card from their stack and places it face-up on the table in front of all participants.
The participants now do the same thing one by one in a clockwise manner until a jack is placed on the stack. At this point, any of the participants may attempt to slap the stack with the hand that they are not using to place the card. Now, whoever encloses the pile with his hand first, takes it after shuffling and puts it under his stack.
If another participant puts their card over the jack before it is slapped, the jack and the cards underneath can’t be taken by him until the next jack is revealed. When a participant has run out of cards, he gets an opportunity to slap a jack and get back in the game. Otherwise, he is out of the game. The game continues with hands of this sort until a player has obtained all of the cards.
This is a very entertaining game for kids to play when they are bored and exhausted from playing other games.
Crazy Eights
Crazy eights is a fascinating game for two to seven players, as well as a fun activity for kids to join in. The aim of this card game is to eliminate all the cards you get. The game ‘Crazy eights’ belongs to the shedding-type category. In this game, each player is given seven cards and the rest of the cards are placed face down amidst the playing platform, forming a draw stack.
The prime card of the draw stack is turned face-up to start the discard stack next to it. The first participant adds to the discard pile by playing one card that matches the card on top of it, either by suit or by rank. If a participant is not able to match the prime card on the discard stack, he must draw cards until he can play one. When the draw stack is empty, a player who cannot add to the discard stack passes his turn.
During a player’s chance, he has the liberty to discard any eight to declare the suit or rank that is to be played by the next participant. Then, the next participant must play either a card of that suit or another eight. The first participant to discard all of his cards wins.
This game might be a bit tricky for kids in the beginning, but, they will surely crave this game once they get the hang of it.
Old maid
Old maid is another kid’s game that can accommodate two to eight players. This game is a standard fifty-two-card deck game, wherein, the cards are shuffled and distributed among the players one at a time. All players need not have the same number of cards.
The game starts with all the players placing all pairs in their hands in a face-down position. Even if a player is in possession of a three of a kind, they still play two of those three cards. Then, the dealer gives away his cards that are spread in a face-down position, to the participant on the left, who picks one card from it. This participant discards any two of a kind that may have formed by drawing this card. Thereafter, the player offers his own hand to the participant on his left.
The game proceeds in this manner until all cards have been arranged in a pair except for one – the ‘odd queen’ that cannot be paired. The player who possesses the ‘odd queen’ card is the Old Maid!
Although this game might sound slightly confusing, it can become an addictive pass time for your kids after a few rounds.
Free online card games to play
Many times, it is quite possible that you don’t have enough time to play along with your kids. Also, your kids may not have any friends or siblings to play card games with. Don’t fret! In such situations, all you have to do is to make good use of the internet and your computer or phone. There are plenty of free card games that are available online that your kid can enjoy playing alone. Below, we have mentioned a few of them:
Blitz
Blitz is a fun and logical puzzle card game in which the participants are challenged to make 21 vertically or horizontally. They have to do so by placing cards from atop the stack in a position along a 4×4 grid. This may be a difficult challenge for your children, however, it may help them improve their problem-solving skills.
5 Stack Blackjack
The theme of 5 Stack Blackjack is pirate-based. In this game, you have to deal one card at a time to any of the 5 hands. Your goal is to try getting all hands to 21 or as close as you possibly can. And later on, if a card doesn’t fit your hands you can also use the skip card feature. Try this amazing and fun game as soon as possible!
Algerian Patience Solitaire Online Card Game
This is a solitaire game where participants try to construct 8 foundations with one set running with the ace upside and the other set running with the king downside. The tableau has 8 rows with 1 or 2 cards each and the other 92 cards are in the reserve, which dealt six at a time until the final 8 are dealt onto the tableau.
Candy Poker: Simplified Easy Poker Card Game For Young Kids
This is the ideal card game for kids to play. Candy poker is an extremely simplified version of poker that a single player can play. In this game, the player can make pairs or better out of their hand with 5 candy cards in it. In Candy Poker, the players play against a computer player. The players can draw up to 5 cards after the initial deal. Candy poker is best suited for young kids who have started to try their hands on the game of cards.
Top benefits of playing Card games for kids
Something as interesting as playing card games is never a waste of time. The fact that you get to spend some quality time together with your children is a good enough reason to play card games.
However, it is a common misbelief that card games are easy to master. These games only look simple but once you start playing them, you soon get to realize that mastering card games require effort and practice. In this process, not only do your kids become a professional in various games of cards but also, improve their comprehension skills and speed up their processing abilities by several notches.
To put it all together, card games can help your kids grow smarter while convincing them to stay indoors when it is not a good time to step outside, especially during times like the pandemic. Furthermore, there are a ton of card games available that can keep your children occupied, thus, allowing them to learn and develop new skills in an interesting fashion.
Some benefits of playing cards are mentioned below:
Good Mental Health
Do you ever wonder how important it is to take care of yourself? But in reality, the self-care section is at the bottom-most strata in your list of priorities.
This is not how you should care for your body. The importance of improving and nourishing your mental health can never be over-emphasized. This characteristic should be taught to your kids too and that too at a relatively young age. This practice will help them become better individuals later on in life.
So, how do these card games help kids with their mental health?
Well, playing cards is undoubtedly a leisure activity in which you have indefinite chatter, happiness, and laughter. This quality time of you with yourself or even your family is bound to infuse your children with a great mood and tranquillity. This is the reason why you should encourage your kids to play card games very often.
Better focus
As card games keep your kids attentive for long periods of time, they developed a better focus without realising it. Moreover, once they get caught up in the game, they forget about everything else.
These days, it is very easy to get distracted. Kids also lack the focused mindset they must possess. Playing cards brings focus and concentration to your kids’ minds because all of their attention is fixed on their next move in the game. Such exercises are very beneficial for the brain and give great returns later on.
Makes the child learn patience
Playing card games require a lot of patience. Patience is a virtue that seems to be missing in people these days and hence, card games are a very good option to make your child learn patience early on. While playing cards, every choice matters a lot. During the game, the kids have to calculate every risk, wait and then make an all-important move that decides the fate of the game. Hence, card games are a very good option to enrich your child’s brain with many such good practices.
Frequently asked questions.
Name a few card games that a five year old can easily play?
Given below are a few card games that even a five-year-old can play :
- Snap.
- Old Maid (Donkey)
- Go Fish
- Happy Families.
- Slapjack.
- Snip Snap Snorem
- Pig
What card game do kids find the easiest to play?
| Card Game | No. of players |
| Old Maid | 2 to 6 |
| War | 2 |
| Go Fish | 2 to 5 |
| Memory/Concentration | 1+ |
| Slap Jack | 2 to 6 |
Well, there are many card games that are easy to play but the easiest of them is Snap. Snap requires a standard 52 deck of playing cards. In addition, you will need at least two players to begin. Firstly, the entire deck of cards is equally divided among the players. The division should be as equal as possible. Each player then flips their cards one by one. The first one to notice the match calls out ‘Snap!’ when a player flips a card that already matches the opponent’s face-up card wins both piles. However, if both players call “Snap!” at the same time, the piles are merged at the centre, face up and form a Snap pot. The game continues in a similar fashion till one player wins all cards.
Which card game is considered to be the oldest of all time?
It is widely believed that European card games are the oldest in the world.
You can also visit the Podium School Website for more information on this topic.
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