Variations
You can also play Memory as a one-player game. Use a timer to try and get as many pairs as possible in three minutes. Try and beat your own score (or someone else's).
Ages: 3+
Players: 2–4
How to Play
Deal out all the cards facedown on the table.
Players take turns flipping over two cards. If they flip over a pair that matches, they win the pair and get to have another go. If not, the next player takes a turn.
If you are playing with a standard set of cards, you can either allow matching the same number and same color card or just the same value.
At the end, the player with the most cards wins.
Ages: 3+
Players: 2–6 (best with three or more)
How to Play
Play Snap with traditional playing cards, or buy a set of themed Snap cards. If you use traditional playing cards, the aim is to match cards with the same number (ignore the suits). Themed Snap is especially fun for children, and you can purchase Snap cards with a theme to suit their interests (or to teach them numbers, maths or specific words).
Deal out the cards around all the players so each player has a pile of cards which they place facedown.
The first player turns over the card at the top of their pile and starts a pile in the centre.
The next player to their left turns over the card at the top of their pile and adds it to the centre pile, and so on.
If there are two cards that match, the first player to yell 'Snap!' wins the cards in the middle.
If a player runs out of cards, they lose.
Appoint a referee to rule in the event of disagreements about who called 'Snap!' first!
Variations
You can also play so that players don't just have to yell 'Snap!' but must also be the first to put their hands on the centre pile.
Players: Two to six players, ages four and up.
Deal five cards out to each player and place the rest into a face down pile in the middle of the players. Choose who gets to go first! The goal of the game is to get as many groups of four as possible: four Kings, four 8s, four 2s and so on.
When it’s your turn, you ‘Go fishing’ for a card. Take a look at your hand and see what cards you already have and where there’s potential to get four of a kind. Next, ask a player if they have that particular card. If they have one or more, they have to hand them all over to you. Play moves to the next person.
If they don’t have any cards, they tell you to “Go Fish”. You then draw a card from the top of the pile. When you collect a set of four cards, you show the other places and place them in front of you.
The game continues until a player runs out of cards, or the draw pile runs out. The winner is the player who has the most sets of four.
Players: Two or more players, ages 4 and up
Deal the cards as evenly as possible to all players. You don’t look at your cards, instead keeping them in a face down pile in your hands.
One player starts, turning over the top card in their pile and lying it face up in the middle. The game continues and each player adds their card. When a Jack is turned over, all players fight to be the first player to ‘slap’ their hand over the Jack. Whoever gets there first gets the entire pile. Once a player runs out of cards, they have one more chance to slap a Jack that comes out. If they miss it, they’re eliminated.
Keep playing until one player has all the cards. They are the winner!
Deal out the entire deck, face down, into thirteen equal piles. Each pile will have four cards.
Arrange the Cards: Set out 12 stacks in a circle as in a clock face. Place the 13th stack in the center.
Note that each pile corresponds to a number on a clock face, with 12 at the top. Each number card corresponds to its designated number (2 at 2 o'clock, etc.). The face cards are as follows: Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13
Opening Move: Turn over the top card of the 13th (middle) stack.
Place the card you just revealed, face up, under the pile which corresponds to it on the clock face. Then turn over the top card on that pile. For example, if the first card revealed is a three, place it face up underneath the 3 pile and turn over the top card of the 3 pile. In the photo below, that card is revealed to be a 7.
Continue in the same manner. In the photos below see that: The 7 goes face up under the 7 on the clock, that top card is revealed to be an ace. The ace goes face up under the 1 on the clock, the top card of the 1 (ace) pile is revealed to be a 2. The 2 goes face up under the 2 on the clock, that top card is revealed to be a 6 and so on.
Win or Lose
If the player is successful in completing all 12 four-of-a-kind sets before the king set is completed, she wins. If the four kings are revealed first, he loses.
Note:
If the final face-down card in a stack belongs to that same stack, (for example, a 4 at four o'clock) you are not out. Merely continue playing by moving to the next available number clockwise in the circle.
Players: Two players to four players, ages five and up
This is a fun card game for kids! Deal out all the cards in the deck as evenly as possible to players. You don’t look at your cards, instead placing them face down in a pile in your hands.
Use the free hand to flip the first card on your pile face up in front of you. Each player does this at the same time. The player with the highest card (based on just rank) wins the cards and adds them to their pile. If two people play a card of the same rank, then you go to war! This simply means you keep playing new cards until the tie is broken. Both players place the top three cards in the pile in front of them, face down. They then flip a fourth card face up. The player with the highest card wins.
You keep playing until one player has all the cards.
Players: Four, Six players or Eight players, 5 and up
This is a great team game and is a kid-friendly version of Spoons shown in the video above.. Start by dealing four cards to each player. Then split up into teams of two and come with a sign (tugging ear, touching nose, etc) they can make if one player gets all four of the same card. Dealer picks up the first card and can either keep it, or hand it on. The goal is to get four of the same kind.
When a player achieves this, they signal their player. If their partner sees it, they yell “Peanut Butter” and they win. But, if another team sees it first, they yell “Jelly”, and they win, whether they have four cards or not.