The Best Card Games for Kids: Our Suggestions For Easy Family Fun

You don’t need much to kick off a family card game: just a deck of cards, some kids, and maybe a snack or two to prevent full-on meltdown mode. If you find a card game suitable for your kiddos, it might even increase math skills, pattern recognition, and get in some memory practice. The importance of social skills, teamwork, and paying attention to others also becomes really clear to kids during multiplayer card games.

We’re talking fast setups, simple rules, and laughs loud enough to summon the family dog. The best card games for kids are the ones they’ll ask to play again. And again. And again.

At Ad Magic, we help creators make games that bring this kind of energy to tables everywhere. So we rounded up some of the most kid-friendly card games, plus ideas for how you can build your own. If you’ve got a chaotic goblin of a kid and a stack of cards, you’re halfway to greatness, or at least great fun.

Card Games For Kids

These don’t need fancy parts, wild expansions, or a million tiny pieces to lose. Just a regular card deck, and a tiny bit of competitive spirit.

Classic Card Games For Kids That Still Slap

These games just need one deck of cards and a willingness to play. Each one is easy to learn (and fairly simple for parents to explain) and great for keeping kids engaged. Here’s exactly how to play them. Each game has its own way of determining the winner, whether by running out of cards, collecting the most sets, or achieving the highest score.

Crazy Eights

Players: 2–5
Goal: Get rid of all your cards first.

Setup:

• Deal 5 cards to each player (or 7 if there are only 2 players).
• Place the rest of the deck in a face-down pile. Turn the top card over to start the discard pile.

How to Play:

1. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card of the discard pile by number or suit.
2. If you don’t have a match, draw the next card from the deck until you can play one.
3. An 8 is wild: play it at any time and switch the suit for the next player. I.e., choosing clubs will make the next player play a club.
4. Keep taking turns clockwise.
5. First player to get rid of all their cards wins.

Remember the important point that after playing an 8, you must declare your chosen suit, or you may face a penalty.

Old Maid

Players: 3 or more
Goal: Avoid being the last one holding the Old Maid.

Setup:

• Remove one queen from the deck.
• Deal all remaining cards evenly. Some players may have one more than others.
• Players remove and discard any pairs of matching cards (same rank, like two fives).

How to Play:

1. On your turn, draw one card at random from the hand of the player to your left. Sometimes, players may try to claim they don’t have a matching card to avoid giving away their strategy.
2. If the card you drew creates a pair with one in your hand, lay it down.
3. Play continues clockwise.
4. The game ends when only one player is left holding the unmatchable queen: the Old Maid.

Go Fish

Players: 2–6
Goal: Collect the most sets of four matching cards.

Setup:

• Deal 5 cards to each player (7 if only 2 are playing).
• Place the remaining cards face-down as the draw pile.

How to Play:

1. On your turn, ask any player for a specific rank (for example, “Do you have any threes?”).
2. If they have cards of that rank, they must give you all of them. You then take another turn.
3. If they don’t, they say “Go Fish,” and you draw a card from the draw pile.
4. If you get the card you asked for, take another turn. If not, play passes to the next player.
5. When you collect all four cards of the same rank, lay the set face-up in front of you.
6. Keep playing until all sets have been matched.
7. The player with the most sets wins.

Note: If you have a large group, you can deal fewer cards to each player to keep the game moving quickly.

War

Players: 2
Goal: Win all the cards.

Setup:

• Shuffle and divide the deck evenly between both players. Keep your stack face-down.

How to Play:

1. Each player flips their top card face-up at the same time.
2. The player with the higher card (ace is high) takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of their deck.
3. If the cards are the same rank, it’s war. Each player places three cards face-down, then a fourth face-up. Whoever has the higher fourth card wins all ten cards.
4. If that card is also a tie, repeat the war.
5. Keep playing until one player has all the cards or until someone runs out.

Slapjack

Players: 3–6
Goal: Collect all the cards.

Setup:

• Deal the entire deck evenly among players. Players keep their cards in a face-down pile.

How to Play:

1. Players take turns flipping the top card from their pile into the center, one at a time.
2. If a jack appears, everyone slaps the pile.
3. The first player to slap the jack wins the entire pile and adds it to the bottom of their stack.
4. If someone slaps when there isn’t a jack, they give one card to the player who played the last card.
5. The last player with cards left wins.

What Makes a Great Card Game For Kids

You don’t always need a giant game board or a team of animators to keep kids interested. Great card games for children often involve:

• One regular card deck (that isn’t sticky)
• Clear, flexible rules
• A mechanic that keeps everyone involved (think: next player needs to be ready, fast turns, surprise flips)
• Space for yelling “I WIN!”

Things like playing matching cards, hunting for the highest card, or racing to finish with one card left all bring best kind of table energy for young kids.

Bonus tip: Rename the suits to animal sounds, give the cards googly eyes, and give a classic game a new name to bring some fresh energy without having to constantly find more card games.

Sneak in Education With Card Games For Kids

Card games can be a great way deliver secret educational power-ups like:

• Counting and number comparison (blackjack, war, spades)
• Sorting and strategy (gin rummy, simplified for short attention spans)
• Pattern matching and memory (fish, snap)
• Turn-taking, fairness, and not flipping the table when you lose

They teach patience. And if you’re raising kids, you know that’s a win.

Want to Make Your Own Card Games for Kids?

We help people turn their unique ideas into printed, playable, ready-to-ship games. We make simple card games for kids, detailed, intricate board games, and love to take on out-of-the-box projects.

Here’s how we help:

• Print-on-demand custom cards, packaging, tokens, and more
• Prototyping support, including samples to playtest with kids and adults
• Friendly production humans (not robots) who help you figure out materials, shipping, and costs
• Options for small runs

We’re the behind-the-scenes crew that helps make napkin sketches real. From design to fulfillment, we’ve got your back.

Let’s Bring Your Game to the Kids Table

You might be designing the next hit card game for kids, or just pulling out a well-worn deck for a round of crazy eights. Card games can spark fun for the whole family. If you or your kids feel inspired, we’re here for everything leading up to when play starts.

You’ve got the imagination. We’ve got the parts, the machines, and the oddly specific expertise in matching cards and custom game boxes. Let’s build something awesome together.

Ready to bring your card game idea to life? Let’s make it real.