Deal Me In . . . Again!

Last year, just around Christmas time, I posted about my family’s love of card games and how I love using cards for teaching math skills in kindergarten.  I was able to suggest some great games that are especially appropriate for younger learners and that have been given the McGuire Boys’ card game stamp of approval.

If you missed it, go ahead and click HERE  or the picture above to check out some of our favorites and some great resources.

Well, since then, we’ve spent  several days on a river boat this summer and acquired a new love for Texas Hold ’em (thanks a ton for the tutelage Cousin Bruce) and Aunt Val sent the boys poker chips for Christmas (I’m sensing a pattern here).   Those card playing genes just keep plugging along.

Now I’m not really an advocate for elementary poker games, but I was able to pick up another new game (No gambling involved–I promise!) that you might want to add to your own list a ‘good ones.

Thanks to Uncle Scott and a recent visit from the cousins, I’m ’99’ has made it to our ‘approved’ list.  Now some of you may already know this one, but remember, I’m not one of those kids that grew up in a house playing cards, so it was a new one to me, and I figured, it might be new to a few of you, too.

Now any good card game in our family has to have two very important elements.  The number one element, it has to be appropriate for kids from 4-104 years old.  No one wants to miss a great game of cards or be left out.  Papa just turned 80 years old, and he’s the one who taught MaGill to play ‘Garbage’ and ‘Golf’ at 3 years old for goodness sakes.  It has to be a game for everyone.

The second element is it has to be FUN!  This one seemed to meet that requirement as the table was crammed full of big and little bodies trying to get in on the action.

So here’s the basic rules of the game:

The Name:  99

The Goal:  To NOT go over the number 99

How you play:  Everyone gets 3 cards.

Cards and Their Values:

4 = 0

9 = 0

10= plus 10 or minus 10

Face Cards = 10

Ace = 1

King = 99

All other cards have their value as written on the card.  So 7 is worth 7 and so on.

The person to the left of the dealer starts by saying the value of the card they play.  The next person adds the value of their card to the game total and so on.  Each time after you play a card, you draw a new card for your hand.  (If you forget to draw, you can’t get a replacement card.  You just have two cards in your hand from that point on.)  If you can not play a card without going over 99, then you are out.  Play continues until all but one person is out, and that person is the winner.

Here’s a little hint:  It’s wise to keep the 4, 9, 10 and low value cards (A, 2, 3) for the end.  Playing a king early can be a good way to get people out early as well.

So there you have it.  Another game for your little bag of tricks. I’m actually passing this one on to one of the older gentlemen who mentors at our school and is always looking for new games to play with the kids.  It has basic addition and subtraction, counting to 100 and strategy all in one fun little package.  I hope you find a way to use it in your classroom, too.

Oh and in case someone caught on to our non- ‘PC’ playing cards in the picture . . . Sorry friends!  Sometimes you just have to use what you have on hand.  I promise, I’m not pushing tobacco on my kiddos and these are only for use at Papa’s house.  My son actually wanted to know if ‘Basic’ cards were just like generic or what?  Yep,  that’s exactly what they are!

Happy card playing!