Below is a big list of games that you can do with a deck of regular playing cards. Make sure you bring enough cards for all of your participants!
Props: Deck of cards (You will use 16 cards including 8 matching pairs)
Time: 10-15 Minutes
Number of Participants: 3-8
Setup: Find 8 pairs of cards matching in value- ace, 2, 3, etc…. (16 cards total). Shuffle these cards and arrange them in a grid- on the floor or on a table- in rows of 4 and columns of 4. Flip all of the cards upside down.
How to play:
Set a boundary for the group to stay behind, far enough away so that the flipped cards are mostly out of sight/the cards’ text can’t be read from behind the boundary (approx 10-15 ft).
Only one person at a time can be across the boundary line.
When you say “go”, one person at a time approaches the set of cards and turns over two cards. For each turn, only two cards can be flipped over.
If the cards match, the person picks up the cards and brings them back behind the line.
If the cards don’t match, the person flips the cards back to face down.
The person then returns to the group behind the line and the next person in line gets a chance to match the cards.
The participants can all talk and discuss the position of the cards while they are behind the line, but they can't yell out instructions to any person who is across the line.
The goal for the group is to find matches for all of the cards.
Variations:
You can start with more/less cards that need to be matched to make the activity shorter or longer.
For an extra challenge, you can make it so participants can’t say any numbers out loud during the activity.
You can have two groups compete against each other to see who can match their set of cards faster.
To make this more physically challenging (or silly), you can move the boundary farther from the cards or require participants to hop on one foot/skip whenever they cross the boundary.
Debrief Ideas:
How did your group decide on a strategy?
What were some barriers to communication in this activity? How did you overcome them?
Props: Deck of cards
Time: 5-10 minutes
Number of participants: Up to 52 (number of cards in a deck excluding jokers)
This can work as a Get to Know You activity or a group split.
How to Play:
Give one playing card to each participant.
Group split (there are many ways to do this!)
find someone with the same number
find someone with the same suit
find someone with a different suit
form a straight (i.e. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Introduce a prompt for the pairs/groups to answer.
Props: A deck of cards
How to play: Have the group divide into groups of four.
Within the four, have each person pick one suit.
The hearts will think of one moment they really loved from the activity.
The club will think of something they want to celebrate about.
The spades will think of something the group really had to dig for.
The diamond will think of a gem that they will take away from this activity.
Share to the small group and/or the large group