One of the best types of games you can play with your children is a card game. Why are card games so great? For starters, assuming you already have a deck of cards, you don’t have to buy anything for them. There will never be a question about whether or not the materials are appropriate for your child; if they are old enough to understand the numbers and letters on the cards, they can probably play the game. Last but not least, having your child learn a card game gives them something that they can teach and share with other children and families. All they will need is a deck of cards. Here are descriptions of two easy card games:
War – This is generally a two-player game. Each player receives half the deck in a pile, face down. They simultaneously flip the top card. The person who flipped the higher ranking card wins both card and adds it to his or her deck. If the same rank is flipped, both players play three cards face down and flip over a fourth. The higher ranking player wins all of the cards in play. In the event of another tie, three more cards are drawn and a fourth is flipped until a winner is determined. Play continues until one player has won the entire deck.
Spoons – Each player is dealt four cards. The objective is to collect four cards of the same rank. The dealer picks up an extra card from the deck and either passes it on, or chooses to take it and pass on a different card from his or her hand. When one person meets the objective, he or she steals a spoon from the center (the number of which is the number of people playing minus one). The person who does not get a spoon loses that round and “receives” the letter S as a penalty. The first to spell out S-P-O-O-N-S loses. You can also replace the act of stealing a spoon with sticking out your tongue, but it seems odd to call the game “Tongues.”