Do you have a young one at home looking for something to do? If you answer yes, why not try the numerous timeless and classic card games available? With the ever-growing trends in gaming these days, it’s easy to forget about some of the simpler pleasures.
However, card games are far from boring these days! From Slapjack to War, there is something extraordinary about playing with a suitcase-style box filled with cards, although some of our favorites come without an actual game board — all you need is creativity! Look at some tried and tested card games your children will love playing frequently.
Hear Genuine Laughter from Your Kids with Classic Card Games
With so many technology-based games today, you will want to introduce your kids to something authentic and nostalgic. Simple card games may have been around for many years, but they are still popular and loved by kids of all ages. Below are some you can introduce to them:
Slapjack
An entertaining game that will keep children laughing the entire time is Slapjack. It champions a slapping mechanic that can make your kids scream and squeal! This card game allows them to get wild and slap cards as fast as they can!
The goal is to collect all cards to win. The rule is simple: Be the first person to slap the Jack whenever it appears or is played at the center. The game begins with all players being dealt with cards equally. After that, they must place it in front of them in a neat pile.
Beginning on the player to the dealer’s left, they play a card from their pile face-up at the center. The next player follows until a Jack is played. The first player to slap the Jack takes it and all the cards beneath it. If a player accidentally slaps a card even though it isn’t a Jack must give one card face-down to the player of that card.
Hearts
The next game is more complex than the rest of the card games on this list, so it’s best for older children. It’s called Hearts, and teaching them this game will be easy since only four players are required for the game to begin! The ultimate goal is for a player to get the least number of tricks and avoid cards from the Hearts suit for them to not to get any penalty points.
How to play Hearts:
- Each player receives 13 cards, and the player with the 2 Clubs leads by playing it.
- All players must follow suit; they can play any card if they don’t have that suit.
- The player with the highest-value card wins, but they get a penalty point if they win a trick containing unwanted cards.
- These unwanted cards are those from the Hearts suit and the Queen of Spades for other variations.
One trick for beginners is to play all their high-valued cards as soon as possible to avoid winning tricks with unwanted cards. If you want to know more, read up on strategies to win Hearts!
UNO
A card game with the same game mechanics and elements as Crazy Eights is UNO. It’s a more modernized version of Crazy Eights due to the addition of special cards, such as the Skip, Reverse, Wild Cards, and Draw 4 Wild Cards. These special cards make the game more challenging and unpredictable.
The objective in UNO is to be the first player to eliminate all cards from their hands. Both adults and kids can join in the fun, which makes it the ultimate family card game! The game begins with all players being dealt seven cards each, and the remaining cards form a draw pile.
The player to the dealer’s left begins by playing a card at the center, and all players must follow the number or color of the card. Here, players can use the special cards to their advantage by skipping other players’ turns or forcing them to draw more cards. The first player to eliminate all their cards wins!
Rummy
If your child is good at making combinations, they will appreciate Rummy. It’s a family of card melding games, where the goal is to make sets and sequences to eliminate all their cards from their hands. Due to its popularity, numerous variations were born from it!
How to play Rummy:
- The game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards, and each player receives ten cards (for two-player Rummy).
- The top card from the draw pile is flipped over at the center as the starter card.
- The leading player can either draw from the pile or take the starter card and place it on their hand while discarding another one from their hand.
- A player can make a set of cards with the same value but different suits or a sequence of cards in consecutive order and the same suit, which they can place on the table.
- Laying off begins by placing a card on your hand on any matched sets and sequences on the table.
- The winner is the first player to get rid of all their cards.
Scoring is when all players still have cards in their hands. The player who gets the lowest score becomes the winner. Face cards all give ten points, Ace gives one point, and all number cards give their face value.
War
Last on our list is War, which is perfect for first-time players. The game’s incredibly straightforward rules will hone your child’s competitiveness. The main objective is for players to collect all cards with a higher value than their opponent during the play phase.
It uses a standard deck divided equally between the two players. The game begins with both players flipping over a card to show to their opponents. The player with the highest value card collects both cards and places them face down at the bottom of their deck. If both players have the same value, they must ‘go to war.’
War means both players get two cards from their decks: one is placed face-down on the table and another card to play. If one player has a higher value at the end of the War, they collect all cards on the table, including the previous card with the same value that led to War. The game continues until a player gathers all the cards.
Jumpstart Your Child’s Card Games Journey
So this concludes our list of the best card games for kids! Have you found the perfect game for your children yet? With easy-to-understand gameplay and rules, you can teach your kids how to play them in no time. Not only will this help improve their memory, problem-solving skills, and decision-making abilities, but it will also open them up for socialization!
