These 10 Card Games for Kids are perfect for simple and fun entertainment! Grab a deck of cards and teach your kids how to play one of these fun card games. These are games that you can play as a family or let siblings play together while you get a break!
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With snow days, rainy days, and continued social distancing, we are constantly looking for a fun way to help our young kids stay entertained. Finding something that appeals to both our youngest child and our older children is always a challenge, but these card games fit the bill perfectly!
Summer will be here before we know it and in between the fun backyard games and craft activities, we need a few sit down activities to help everyone reset and regroup.
These card games are perfect for a little down time! You can keep kids of all ages entertained on a rainy (or too hot!) day, on a plane ride or road trip, or just for a little family fun!
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What Kinds of Games Can you Play with Cards?
Card games are a great option because one deck of cards can create a multitude of games. With a simple deck of cards, you have an endless amount of fun! Consider incorporating these classic games into your next family game night, it’ll be a guaranteed good time!
Here are 10 fun card games for kids that the whole family can enjoy!
10 Fun Card Games for Kids
1. Crazy Eights
This classic card game is perfect for younger kids as well! The eight card is wild, giving this card game its fun name!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2 to 5
Objective: Be the first player to get rid of all your cards!
Deal: Each player gets five cards, one card at a time. The remaining cards are placed in the center with the top card flipped over face up to create a new pile.
Playing: Grab the cards that were dealt to you and keep them hidden from the other players. Working clockwise, players will take turns to either play the same number or same suit on top of the card that is in the face-up pile.
An eight card is considered a wild card and can be played on top of any card. The person who plays the eight selects any suit and the next player has to play a card of the selected suit.
If at any time, a player cannot play a card of the same number or suit, they can draw up to three cards from the face down deck in the middle (if you’d like, you can opt for unlimited card draws!).
Winner: The first person to get rid of all their cards is the winner!
2. Snap
A fun card game to help develop young children’s focus and concentration skills. They must pay attention to keep from losing in this game!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2+ (A great game for larger groups!)
Objective: To win all of the cards.
Deal: The cards are dealt one at a time face down to each player until all the cards have been dealt.
Playing: The game play starts when the first player flips over their top card, making a new pile of cards face up. Going clockwise, the next player does the same thing until all players have done so.
When a card is turned over that matches a card already face up on another player’s pile, the first person to notice the matching card yells out “Snap” and wins both piles of cards. Add these cards to the bottom of your face-down pile.
If two players yell “Snap” at the same time, the two piles are combined and placed in the center of the table, face up. These cards are now the Snap Pot. If at any time, a player sees a card that matches the card on the top of the Snap Pot pile, they call out “Snap Pot” and win all of those cards.
If a player runs out of cards in their face-down pile, the cards in the face-up pile are turned over and the player continues.
Winner: The winner is the person who has all of the cards at the end.
3. Old Maid
Little hands can develop matching, pairing, and counting skills as they play this easy card game that results in multiple winners and one big loser!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2+
Objective: Don’t be stuck with the old maid (the Queen) at the end!
Deal: Remove one of the Queen cards from the deck and deal all of the remaining cards evenly to the players face down. Since there are 51 cards, the number of cards received may be slightly uneven.
Playing: Each player looks through their cards and pairs up any matches. Put these face down in front of you. After all the pairs are matched up, player two draws a card from player one’s hand face down. If player two made a match, place those cards face down. Continue playing, moving clockwise (player three then chooses from player’s two hand).
When a player has paired up all the cards from his hand and is out of cards, he is out of the game and safe from becoming the Old Maid.
Winner: The person with the last card (the Queen) is the Old Maid and the loser of the game!
4. Spoons
This fun, fast-paced game gets intense quickly! Players will have to keep up as they match four of a kind and pay attention to the pile of spoons in the middle simultaneously! You will also need a few plastic spoons for this fun game.
How to Play
Number of Players: 3+
Objective: Don’t be the only person without a spoon when the round ends.
Deal: Each player is dealt four cards face down, one at a time. The rest of the deck is kept face down and put next to the dealer. The spoons are also set up in the middle of the players. Place one fewer spoon than the total number of people playing. (So three spoons for four players).
Playing: Players will look at their cards and keep them hidden from the other players. The dealer starts the game by drawing one card from the deck and discarding a card of his choice, face down to the person on his left.
The player to the left of the dealer will pick up that card and choose to either keep it or pass it to the player on their left, face down. Each time a card is picked up, a new card must be discarded.
The dealer (and all the other players) continue to pick up and discard new cards, so the game keeps moving quickly.
When a person gets four of the same card, they can discreetly grab a spoon from the pile in the middle. As soon as a spoon is grabbed from the middle, other players can quickly grab a spoon as well.
The player who doesn’t grab a spoon in time loses the round and gets an “S” assigned to them. The next time they lose a round, they get the letter “P.” This continues until they spell SPOONS.
Winner: The person who spells SPOONS first loses the game. When a player is out of the game, remove one of the spoons from the middle and continue to play with the remaining players. The last player remaining wins! A simple game for players of all ages.
5. Slapjack
This has got to be one of the best card games from so many childhoods! Kids will love having the chance to slap the cards as they play this fun, hilarious game!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2+
Objective: Get all of the cards from the other players.
Deal: Using a standard deck of cards, cards are dealt one at a time, face down and split evenly amongst all the players in the group. Cards remain face down, without players looking at them.
Playing: The first player places their top card face up into the middle of the group pile. Moving clockwise, the next player does the same. Players continue to do this, moving fairly quickly as they play each card.
When a player puts a Jack card face up into the pile, the first person to slap the pile gets to keep the entire deck of cards underneath it. That player will shuffle the pile and add it to their existing cards.
Winner: When a person runs out of cards, they are eliminated from the game. The last person who has all the cards at the end of the game wins! It’s so simple and SO much fun!
6. Go Fish
The classic game of Go Fish could not be more simple! It’s a perfect game for beginners, and easy for kids to learn! You can play with a classic card deck or buy a fun animal or alphabet game to add even more education to the game!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2+
Objective: Get the most four of a kind sets. (Variation: For younger players, you can opt to collect pairs instead of “books” of four)
Deal: Dealer gives each player 5 to 7 cards. The rest of the cards go in the center, face down. These become the Fish Pond.
Playing: Players look at their cards and keep them hidden from the other players. Players will match up any same cards initially. When it’s your turn, ask another player for a specific card. For example, “Mom, do you have any fives?” If she has any fives, she has to hand all of them over. If she doesn’t have any, she says “Go Fish” and you then draw one card from the top of the deck.
If you draw the card you just asked for, show it and take another turn. Then it goes to the next person’s turn.
When you get four of a kind, remove them from your pile and place them face up.
If a player runs out of cards, they draw five new cards from the fish pond. The game ends when all of the cards in everyone’s hands are gone.
Winner: The winner is the person who has the most four of a kind at the end.
7. Pig
Pig is a fun and silly game, even for younger kids. While they may not be able to match four of a kind as quickly as older kids, they can certainly pay attention to other players to avoid becoming the pig!
How to Play
Number of Players: 3+
Objective: Be the first player to collect four of a kind, or don’t be the last player to notice when someone else has four of a kind.
Deal: Each player receives four cards face down, one at a time.
Playing: Players look at their cards. The goal is to be the first one to collect four of a kind. Each player passes one card to their left and then picks up the card that was passed to them on their right, keeping this goal in mind.
This card passing continues as quickly as possible, making it challenging for players to keep up with the pace.
As soon as one player has four of a kind, they stop passing or picking up cards and put a finger to their nose. Once the other players notice this, they also stop passing and put a finger to their nose as well.
Winner: The person who puts their finger to their nose last is the pig! They get a “P” assigned to them for this round. The first person to spell PIG loses the game. A great card game for all ages!
8. War
Looking for an easy card game that your kids can play all on their own? This is it! This classic card game brings out the competitive spirit in everyone and is so fun and simple!
How to Play
Number of Players: 2
Objective: Collect all of the cards (or the most cards) by the end of the game.
Deal: All cards are split evenly amongst two players. Cards are dealt face down and players must not look at them. (No peeking!)
Playing: Both players will flip their top card over at the same time. The player who placed the card with the higher value (Ace is the highest and two is the lowest) wins both of the cards. Put the cards won in your pile face up. Continue playing until you reach the face up cards. Once those cards are reached, shuffle your pile and continue to play.
When two cards of equal value are played at the same time, that means war! Players put three cards face down and then flip one card face up. The player that has the highest card value showing wins all 10 cards.
Winner: The person to get all 52 cards wins the game! This one can go on for a while, so it’s perfect to keep kids busy for longer stretches!
9. Speed
Just like its name implies, players will have to work quickly to get rid of their cards faster than their opponent.
How to Play
Number of Players: 2
Objective: The object of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all of your cards.
Deal: Players will sit across from one another as the dealer hands out five cards to each player, one card at a time and dealt face down. The dealer then hands out 15 additional cards to each player in a separate pile, face down and one at a time as well.
The remaining cards are set up face down in the middle of the players in four separate piles: A pile on the far left with five cards, a pile next to it with one card, one card next to that, and finally five cards in the pile on the far right.
Playing: Players will pick up their five cards to start the game. Keep your cards hidden from the other player.
Each player will flip over the one-card pile in the middle. Players work to eliminate their cards one at a time by placing a card one number higher or one number lower on top of the card in the middle piles.
Players can work at their own pace, eliminating cards one at a time into either deck in the middle, without waiting for the other player. They can pull one card at a time from their pile of 15 cards, keeping five cards in their hand at a time.
If both players get stuck, they must wait for the other player and then flip over the top card from the piles on the far right and far left, continuing to put cards of one higher and one lower value down on the new cards in the middle.
Winner: The winner is the person who gets rid of all their cards the quickest and shouts out “SPEED!” at the end.
10. I Doubt It
This is a perfect family card game to help you learn when your kids are bluffing! Catch them in the act of fibbing as you play this game of I Doubt It. It’s the only time it’s okay to tell a little white lie!
How to Play
Number of Players: 3+
Objective: Be the first player to play all your cards into the middle.
Deal: Cards are dealt one at a time to each player, until all cards are dealt.
Playing: Each player grabs the cards they were dealt and keeps them hidden from the other players. The game starts with Aces. The first player must say how many Aces they are playing as she puts them face down in the middle. For example, “one Ace.”
Moving clockwise, the next player must play the next card (two) and can play as many cards as they want or have, but must play at least one card.
If a player does not have the right cards needed, they “lie” and put a different card face down, but still say the card that is in play. For example, it could be time to play a three, but you don’t have any. You can place a six down and say “one three” as you place your six face down in the pile, with your best poker face.
If someone doesn’t believe a player is actually playing the card named, they can say “I Doubt It” and check the cards that were played. If the cards played are not the correct cards, the player who put them down has to take all of the cards from the middle. If the cards played were the correct cards, the person who called “I Doubt it” has to take all the cards in the middle.
Continue playing until one person runs out of all their cards.
Winner: The player to get rid of all their cards first is the winner, and probably the best bluffer!
There are so many fun card games for kids to play, either on their own or with the family. Find even more here. Which card game was your favorite to play as a kid?
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Heidi Kundin has captivated the hearts of millions with her colorful and inspiring approach to crafting, celebrations, and family fun. With over 15 years of experience, Happiness is Homemade has become a must-visit destination for those seeking quick and easy creative ideas and last-minute solutions. Heidi’s warm personality shines through her posts, inviting readers to join her on a creative journey that’s fun, rewarding, and achievable. Heidi is also the author of Homemade Bath Bombs & More and DIY Tie-Dye.