Heritage Playing Cards
While at London’s Natural History Museum last week, my sister found these beautiful Heritage Playing Cards. Unlike most other playing cards with just one design on the back, every single one of the Heritage Playing Cards has a different design. We have the dinosaur pack and really love it!
Here’s the simple game I’ve taught my three-year-old. It’s great for practicing observational, matching, and rule-following skills.
1. Shuffle the cards. Kids love watching this.
2. Deal each player 5 cards.
3. Put the rest of the deck down in the middle and place one card face up.
4. Ask your child (or children) to match that card’s number or suit. If they don’t have a card in their hand that matches, they keep taking from the deck until they get one that does.
5. Once everyone has had their turn, place the played cards for that round aside and draw another card from the deck for everyone to match.
6. If the deck of cards in the middle runs out, reshuffle the played cards and place in the center face down. Keep drawing cards until someone has matched all the cards in his/her hand.
7. The first player to use up all their cards wins!
What other card games do you play with your kids?
Technorati Tags: playing cards, cards, card games, children, kids, games, play
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POSTED IN: Board Games and Other Games For Kids, Children's Toys
6 opinions for Heritage Playing Cards
Angel
Jun 5, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Wow, you’ve been able to teach a three year old to play card games? She must be smart! I had a Winnie-the_Pooh card game I was trying to teach my little niece who is almost three, but the cards ended up thrown all over the place after about twelve seconds!
- Angel
Hsien-Hsien Lei
Jun 5, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Angel: Hi! Thanks for the comment. My son is just a couple of months shy of 4 years old so I think he’s just about ready to start learning about rules. The other boys in his class who are way over 4 have definitely started getting the idea about organized sports while my son is still running around in circles. LOL
Christine Lim Simpson
Jun 7, 2006 at 10:46 am
We play the good old games of SNAP, HAPPY FAMILY, UNO!
Hsien-Hsien Lei
Jun 8, 2006 at 7:49 am
Christine: Can’t wait until we can play more complicated games! Although I’m sure to lose. LOL
Jeremy Shaw
Jul 14, 2006 at 12:17 am
People might like to know how to get these (and other) illustrated playing cards by Mail Order - they are not easy to find in shops. You can buy them online at:
http://www.heritageplayingcards.com
Very young kids (and older ones too) can learn a huge amount whilst having a lot of fun from playing with cards, from learning to count, math, color, matching/sorting, dexterity, shapes - and that’s before even learning to play any card games. Playing simple card games teaches social skills, courtesy, the idea of ‘following rules’, and how to have a lot of fun very inexpensively. Playing cards can be taken along easily on a trip or to a friend’s house, and can be enjoyed for a few minutes or for hours. Its easy to understand why they’ve been around for hundreds of years - they’re wonderful! The ‘half-size’ patience (solitaire) cards are ideal for young children - they are much easier to hold - do NOT be seduced by the ‘jumbo’ size which are aimed supposedly at children - they are impossible (and very tiring) to hold. (Think about the illogicality of these - do we use a serving spoon to teach children how to use silverware? Small things fit small hands!)
Hsien-Hsien Lei
Jul 14, 2006 at 7:20 am
Jeremy: Thanks for dropping by! I will definitely be bringing our playing cards on our next international flight. :)
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