Looking for a way to keep your kids entertained offline? Here are a few awesome card games your kids will love.
Ten Card Games for Kids
- Quiddler Junior
You may have played Quiddler, but have you tried the junior version? In Quiddler Junior, like in Scrabble, players work to put letter tiles together into words. Players get six rounds of play; as in Scrabble, the goal is to rack up as many points while playing as possible.
- Uno
Who hasn’t played (and loved) Uno? In Uno, players compete not to draw in more cards but to get rid of those they have, by matching the cards in their hand to what the previous person played. If you don’t have a card, you have to draw one. This game can be super fun for kids who are learning their colors and numbers, and can also create a fun, competitive atmosphere, as everyone wants to be the first to get to shout, “Uno!”
- Go Fish
In Go Fish, players want to get rid of their cards by pairing them with the others of their type, I.e. they want to get all the Jacks together. The first person to successfully close up their entire deck wins.
This game is a bit similar to Uno, but we couldn’t not include it. If you don’t have the funds to shell out for an Uno deck, or maybe you just don’t have it in you to go to the store today, this is the card game for you! Players want to get rid of their hands by matching the previous card laid down, and 8s function as wild cards.
- Snip, Snap, Snorem
Okay, maybe all card games are about getting rid of your hand. In this game, kids match cards as in Uno, but with a twist: the first player to match a card says “snip,” the second says “snap,” and the third says, “snorem.” This fun iterative game makes sure kids are paying attention to others’ plays, and just generally makes a fun song for them to enjoy!
- Pig
Your kid may love barnyard animals, but have they heard of Pig with cards? In this fun game, players compete to collect cards of the same number. But they got to move fast: passing cards in a circle like a whirlpool, players are always having to catalog what the person on their right has handed them while passing on what they don’t want to the person on their left. Made a mistake? Too bad!
- War
You probably played this as a kid, because it’s impossible to mess up. Deal a deck between two players and take turns laying down cards. The person with the higher-value card takes both plays. The goal is to accumulate the whole deck and leave your opponent with nothing. But be warned – this game can take a while, to say the least.
- Old Maid
A final classic childhood game is Old Maid. To compete, players steal cards from their opponents, trying to match them up with their own cards and eventually get rid of their hands. Sound like Go Fish? Not quite: while almost all cards in the deck have a twin, one of the Queens is removed before play, so someone will be left with the busted card of the Queen. Whoever that is, tough luck: they’re the so-called “Old Maid.”
Feedback
Was this post helpful for you? Do you have any suggestions for card games we should have included here, or are there other similar posts you’d like to see from us? Let us know using the feedback button below! Or check out some of our other helpful tools for entertaining kids, including our Activity Room with lots of kid-friendly games, or our Word Ghost! game.
