Nertz

Based on a comment on my last post, I thought I'd mention the game of Nertz as a great family activity. Growing up, my family used to play "Pounce" which is another name for Nertz. It is basically a game of group solitaire. Each player has a stack of thirteen they are trying to get rid of. To the left of this stack are placed four cards face up. These are played on just like solitaire. No one else can play on these stacks. As in solitaire, the Aces go into the middle. These are fair game for everyone. You build the stack up Ace through King of the same suit. The first one to deplete his/her stack of thirteen yells "Nertz" or "Pounce" to end the round. For every card left in your stack, you must have two in the middle to break even. Any above this number is how many points you earn. Check out the Nertz website if you want more information.

Hearts

Hearts is a card game for families with older children. It involves playing to catch tricks, but to catch no hearts or the queen of spades. The variation that makes this game even more tricky, is that if you can catch ALL of the hearts AND the queen of spades, you win that hand. In this game you are trying to avoid points. In hands where one player catches all the heart as well as the queen of spades, everyone else gets points and s/he gets none.

You can find rules to Hearts online .

Merry Widow

Merry Widow is a variation on spades, played with three people. This game is ideal for families with three people or when other family members are gone. In this game you deal out four hands, the first hand being the widow's partner's hand. This hand is untouched to begin with. The player to the right of the dealer has first choice to either keep the hand s/he was dealt, or trade it for the open hand. Each player gets the chance to do this regardless if the hand has already been traded. Scoring is also done a little differently than traditional spades. You must catch three tricks to break even. Other than that, play proceeds as in a regular game of spades.

Spades

We taught our youngest to play spades this past year. It is a good card game, but does require four people to play. There are many variations on this game, though many people play some variation of this card game. Rules can be found online . It is good for families with older children, who can listen to the rules, which can be a little confusing when first learning. It does take some patience while the kids are learning, but it's a great way to spend a family night. When traveling it's easy to strike up a game anytime you have to wait. And when the kids go off to college, it's a great card game to get up with friends, often a little more safe than those college poker games!

Go Fish

Go Fish is one of the first card games we taught our kids. If your kids are still small, this is a great first card game to play together. The rules are fairly simple and it helps them learn the concepts of pairs and like groups.

Deal everyone seven cards. Each player takes a turn asking any other player for a card that matches any card in his/her hand. If you get the requested card, you get to keep asking, either for that card or any other that matches something in the hand. Once you do not get the requested card the person from whom you requested it says "go fish". The requester then draws one card from the stack of cards left in the middle. If he/she draws the requested card, the turn continues. If not, then the next player follows the same pattern.

Once you get all four of a like card (all four 5's, or all four Kings) you have completed a book. As there are no more cards in this book, you then lay all four down together. Once all cards have been played out, count up your books. The player with the most books wins.

Card Games

Our family has always enjoyed playing different card games together. When the kids were small we would play games like "Go Fish" or "Crazy Eights". Even young children can learn these games. And they love to feel big playing big kid games.

There are so many card games that can be learned as the kids get older as well. I have even taught my kids different variations on Solitaire. That way, when family night is over, they can still have fun playing cards, even if no one else is available to play.