Get creative with these 20 fun things to do with a deck of cards!
Have you ever needed an activity to keep the kids busy while you’re out to dinner or waiting at the doctor’s office?
You know, something you could keep in your purse or car and pull out at a moments notice — perfect, right?!
Or maybe you have a deck of cards that’s missing one or two (in our house, that’s a regular thing).
Now you can have 20 different activities right at your fingertips!
Fun Things to do with a Deck of Cards
We have a great list of card games, learning activities, crafts and fun things to do — perfect for traveling, passing the time while waiting or that next “I’m bored” moment 😉
Engineering with Cards
These activities are perfect for those decks missing a few cards:
Build a card tower — takes some fine motor skills, balance and patience but it’s a great engineering challenge for kids!
Use a deck of cards to construct a bridge — Homeschool Creations
The Make website also has this awesome tutorial on how to make a ball of cards
Do a little origami and make a Card Box — Snapguide
Math Activities
Play a Color Matching game (which can also be a symbol mathcing game with a regular deck of cards — Inspiration Laboratories
Learn place values with cards and a number line — Hands on As We Grow
You can also use either Uno cards or a regular deck of cards to practice number matching or create a number line — How Wee Learn
Teach Fractions with this fun card game that older kids will enjoy — What Do We Do All Day?
Practice double digit subtraction — Line upong Line Learning
For kids who are learning to add and subtract, try playing Make Ten with cards — What Do We Do All Day?
And older kids learning to multiply will pick up some math skills with the Multiplication War game — Love to Learn
Creative Ideas for a Deck of Cards
Put together a great list of life skills that every teen should know how to do before they go to college!
Play “Don’t Blow the Joker” as a fun Minute to Win It game — Housing a Forest
Kids can learn this simple but pretty cool card trick to impress their friends!
Create a strand of Card Garland for Valentine’s Day — No Time for Flashcards
Card Games for Kids
Learning card games can help kids to practice strategy, mental math and good sportsmanship (whether they win or lose the game). Here’s a few of our favorites:
Learn how to play War
Crazy 8’s is a fun family game that kids can learn at a young age — in fact, my kids decided to create their own take on this game so we know play Crazy 9’s (always a great thing for kids to make up their own game and rules).
My daughter is crazy for Greek mytholody & the Percy Jackson books so this Zeus on the Loose
A great fast-paced game that’s fun or all ages is Spoons — you may need a few decks of cards if you’re group is larger than 4. This can be a fun game to do while waiting for dinner.
And if the kids are getting a little squirrelly, there’s always the classic 52 pick-up! Challenge the kids to see who can pick up the largest sum of cards (and sneak in a little math).
MORE CREATIVE ACTIVITIES:
