Card Games

Spoons

Players: 3 – 6
Ages: 6+
Goal: Get four of a kind

Setup

1

  • Deal 4 cards to each player.

  • Remaining cards go in a draw pile.

  • Decide on a “spoon” signal (grabbing a spoon, touching your head, finger on the table, etc.).

How to play

2

  1. Everyone plays at the same time.

  2. Draw one card, then pass one card to the left.

  3. Keep drawing and passing, trying to collect four cards of the same rank.

Grabbing the Spoon

3

  • When a player gets four of a kind, they quietly make the signal.

  • Once noticed, everyone races to do the same.

  • Last person gets a letter.

Winning

4

  • Spell S-P-O-O-N-S and you’re out.

  • Last player standing wins.

Egyptian Ratscrew (Family Rules)

Players: 2 – 6
Ages: 7+
Goal: Win all the cards

Setup

1

  • Deal the entire deck evenly, face-down.

How to play

2

  1. Players take turns placing one card face-up into a center pile.

  2. Face cards trigger a challenge:

    • Jack → 1 chance

    • Queen → 2 chances

    • King → 3 chances

    • Ace → 4 chances

  3. If no face card appears in the allowed chances, the person who played the face card wins the pile.

Slap Rules (pick before playing)

3

  • Double (same card twice in a row)

  • Sandwich (same card with one card between)

  • King & Queen

  • First person to slap correctly wins the pile.

Winning

4

  • If you run out of cards, you’re out.

  • Last player with cards wins.

Old Maid

Players: 2 – 6
Ages: 5+
Goal: Don’t end with the Old Maid

Setup

1

  • Remove one Queen from the deck.

  • Deal all remaining cards.

  • Discard all matching pairs.

How to play

2

  1. On your turn, draw one card from the player on your left.

  2. If it makes a pair, discard it.

  3. Play continues until all pairs are gone.

Losing

3

  • The player holding the unmatched Queen is the Old Maid.

Golf (6-Card Version)

Players: 2 –6
Ages: 8+
Goal: Have the lowest score

Setup

1

  • Deal 6 cards to each player, face-down, in a 2×3 grid.

  • Each player flips two cards face-up.

  • Remaining cards form a draw pile.

Card Values

2

  • Ace = 1

  • 2–10 = face value

  • Jack = 0

  • Queen = 10

  • King = 0

    👉 Matching cards in the same column cancel out (score 0).

How to Play

3

  1. Draw a card from the deck or discard pile.

  2. Swap it with one card in your grid or discard it.

  3. The replaced card is flipped face-up.

Ending the Round

4

  • When a player has all cards face-up, everyone else gets one final turn.

  • Add up your score

Winning

5

  • Play multiple rounds.

  • Lowest total score wins.