Sunday Night Games

This week we are continuing our series on card games for the classroom. The games we are posting are suitable for students in Year (Grade) One & Two.

As always, lots of modelling, discussion of the rules and how to be a good winner/participant is critical before students play the games independently.

Have fun!

War
Number of players: 2
Cards: remove picture cards from a standard deck of 52 cards

How to play:
All number cards are dealt to the two players and kept face down. Neither player looks at their cards. Both players turn over the top card in their pile and put it face up in the centre of the table (beside the other player’s card).

The first person to add the two cards together wins that war, they take the two cards and add them to the bottom of their pile. (You may wish for some students to use a calculator or concrete materials for support.) The game is won by the player who collects all of the cards.

Try to match students with similar abilities. A ‘War Tournament’ can be held to challenge students to develop their mental calculation skills – consider running multiple tournaments with students of similar abilities.

Crazy Eights
Number of players: 2-4
Cards: standard deck of 52 cards

How to play:
In a two-player game, each player is dealt seven cards. In a game with three or four players, each player is dealt five cards. The rest of the deck goes face down in a pile, with the top card turned up beside it. This is the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer discards a card from their hand that matches either the number or suit of the top card in the discard pile. For example, if the card is a five of hearts, they could play any heart or any five. If they do not have a matching card, they continue picking up cards from the deck until they get one that is playable. Eights are wild cards and can be put down on any suit/number. For example, an eight could be played to match a heart or any number. The next player must match their card to the number or suit that the eight was meant to cover. Play continues with players matching the card at the top of the discard pile. The first player to use all his/her cards wins. If the deck runs out before the game is over - shuffle the discard pile, turn the top card over and continue.

Concentration - Friends of 10
Number of players: 2 - 6
Cards: standard deck of 52 cards – remove all picture cards.
Use as many pairs that make ‘friends of 10’ as you choose. 
How to play:
As per tradition ‘Concentration’ - shuffle and spread cards face down on a table (randomly or in rows) between the players. The object of the game is to find pairs (friends of 10) that add up to 10, for example, 2 & 8, 4 & 6, 5 & 5 etc.

Players take turns turning over two cards and letting all the players see and study them. If they are not a pair that add up to 10, try to remember what and where they are, then turn them back over. The next player turns over another two cards. If they are a pair adding up to 10, that player removes them from the table, keeps them and then has another turn. When all cards have been removed from the table, each player counts up the number of cards they have collected. The player with the most cards wins.
(Thanks to Ryan for sharing this game!)



Let us know how these card games work in your classroom and feel free to comment /add your own!