a super simple card game

I seem to recall playing this game on a train to youth orchestra weekend somewhere in New Brunswick.  I was in university at the time so as much as this is a great game for kids, its also very entertaining for adults.  I would recommend playing with 1st graders on up to any age and it best played in a group of 3-6 or 8 people.  The more people, the more difficult it gets, so only attempt 6-8 players if they are older students.  It works great for an animal topic or check the variations below for some other ideas.

You’ll need:  One deck of playing cards.

1.  Sit in a circle.

2.  Each students decides on what animal they are.  Then go around the circle and talk about what sound each animal makes.  You could make an entire lesson out of it, getting students to draw the animals on the whiteboard, spell the words, or perhaps assign the animals to each students by giving hints that they have to guess at.

3.  The idea is to remember everyone else’s animal sound, so spend some time practicing each other’s sounds.

4.  Divide the deck of cards among the group. Each player places their pile face down in front of them.

5.  On the count of three, everyone turns over one card.  Continue on like this.  When two players have matching cards (i.e. two Jacks or Two fives) they each have to say the other players animal sound.  The first one to say it, gets the other player’s cards and adds to their deck.

6.  When a player goes through all their cards, they turn them back over, and continue playing.

The game continues as players eventually lose all their cards.  You might want to say at one point, “one more minute” then at the end of the minute, stop the game and count the number of cards each player has.  The one with the most is the winner.

Variations:

It’s so much fun to see everyone trying remember and blurt out animal sound but it also works well with:

1. Languages: Students decide what country they are from and how to say, “Hello” in the language of that country.

2. Halloween: Decide on Halloween characters and the sounds or gestures they make.

3.  Not quite as fun because it doesn’t involve sounds but….any vocabulary that involves likes, dislikes, abilities, etc.  The goal being to remember everyone’s favorite foods, sports, colors, etc…

4.  Add a gesture.  For example, if it’s everyone’s favorite sport, in addition to saying the name of the sport, the students must stand up and gesture the sport.

You can either turn this game into a part of your lesson by tieing it into your current topic or it makes a great quick and fun 5 minute game to end a class on a positive note with plenty of laughs!