Spoons Card Game
This game for practicing equivalent fractions is a variation on the classic card game 'Spoons.' If you've ever played 'Spoons' before, you know that the game is super fast-paced and lots of fun. I figured that if I could combine the fun and exciting parts of 'Spoons' with some equivalent fractions practice, I'd have a center game that my students would be dying to play. And let me tell you, this one does not disappoint!
Number of players: 3-6 players
Preparing the materials:
1. Print out the Equivalent Fraction cards that we've created for this game by CLICKING HERE. Cut out each of the cards.
Spoons is a fast-paced card game for 3 or more players, and is recommended for ages 4+. It uses a standard 52-card pack and a number of spoons that is one fewer spoon than the number of players in the game. For example, if there are 6 players, then 5 spoons would be used. The game is similar to the party game 'Musical Chairs.' Spoons is a fun family card game and an easy game to teach children. The object of this game is to collect four of the same rank and grab a spoon before your opponents. You will need at least three players, although 5 – 7 is better, and a standard deck of 52 playing cards. As the name suggests, the game requires spoons. Spoons Free Card Game free download - TubeMate, TubeMate 3, 500 Card Game, and many more programs.
2. Grab some plastic spoons (or any other object that can be grabbed by the players). You need one fewer than the number of players. For example, if you have 6 players, you'll need 5 spoons.
Object of the game:
To be the last player remaining in the game. Players get closer to being eliminated each time they are left without a spoon, which earns them the next letter in the word S-P-O-O-N. Once a player has earned all 5 letters in the word S-P-O-O-N, he or she is out.
Getting ready to play:
1.Arrange the spoons in a small circle in the center of the table.
2.Shuffle the equivalent fraction game cards and deal four cards face down to each player. The players may look at their own cards, but may not show their cards to anyone else.
3.Choose a dealer for the round. The remaining cards should be placed in a pile facedown beside the dealer.
Playing the game:
1.The dealer takes a card off the top of the pile so that he or she now has five cards in his or her hand. The dealer removes one of the five cards from his or her hand and passes it facedown to the player on his or her left. The dealer then continues to pick up cards from the pile and discard one card at a time to the player on his or her left.
2.The player to the left of the dealer picks up the discarded card from the dealer. Like the dealer, he or she removes one of the five cards from his or her hand and passes it facedown to the person on his or her left. He or she continues to do this as cards continue getting discarded to him or her.
3.This quick picking up and passing of cards continues around the circle. The last player in the circle always places his or her discarded card into a trash pile. These cards are now out of play for the round.
4.Once someone gets four-of-a-kind (four fraction cards that are equivalent makes four-of-a-kind) in his or her hand, he or she grabs a spoon from the center of the table. Once the player with four-of-a-kind takes a spoon, everyone else tries to immediately grab a spoon (even if they do not yet have four-of-a-kind).
5.The player left without a spoon earns a letter in the word S-P-O-O-N.
6.The round is now over and the game begins again. If any players were eliminated during the last round, a spoon must be removed so that there is always one fewer spoon on the table than players.
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Looking for other fun ways to practice fraction skills in your math centers? Check out these and other fun fraction games in our store.
Players aim to collect four cards of the same rank | |
| Alternative names | Pig |
|---|---|
| Type | Collecting |
| Players | 3-13 (4-7 best)[1] |
| Skills required | Stealth, memorising |
| Age range | 7+[1] |
| Deck | French |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Related games | |
| Happy Families, My Ship Sails, Spoons | |
Donkey, also known as Pig, is a collecting card game that is best for five or six players. It is played with a 52-card French pack.[2] It has variants such as Spoons and may be descended from an old game called Vive l'Amour.[1]
Rules[edit]
The following rules are based on Arnold (2009) and Parlett (2008).[1][2]
Preliminaries[edit]
A standard 52-card pack is used from which as many quartets (four of a kind) are removed as there are players. For example, six players would use 24 cards which could be four each of Aces, Queens, Tens, Sevens and Threes. This sets the maximum number of players at thirteen; Parlett suggests that five or six is optimum, while Arnold suggests four to seven are best. Any player may deal as the role of dealer is not critical, nor is the position of players in the round. Players are dealt four cards each.
Spoons Card Game Unblocked
Playing[edit]
Each player looks at their hand and selects a card to get rid of, passing it face down to the player on their left. Players do this simultaneously, not in rotation, so that players cannot use the card they receive to decide what to shed. Once again, players examine their cards and pass one card to the left. This process continues until one player has collected a quartet in their hand, called a book.[1]
The player with the quartet does not announce it, but quietly places their hand down and touches their nose, keeping it there. As other players notice, they do the same. The last player to touch their nose is the Donkey (or Pig), i.e. the loser.
Variants[edit]
Spoons[edit]
The following rules are based on Arneson.[3]
The aim is as for Donkey: to be first to collect a quartet. Two or more play using one or more 52-card French decks. A number of spoons, one fewer than the number of players, are placed in the middle, handles outwards. The dealer deals four cards to each player, places the rest down as a stock.
The dealer draws the top card from the stock, and either discards it or exchanges it with a hand card, passing the discard, face down, to the player on their left. That player selects a hand card to discard and passes it left. Subsequent players do the same, in rotation, except for the last player, who discards their card into a wastepile next to the stock. This process continues, with the dealer drawing from the stock and the last player discarding to the wastepile. If the stock runs out, the dealer draws from the wastepile.
As soon as a player has a quartet, that player takes a spoon. As other players notice, they do likewise until one player is left, empty-handed, as the loser. That player is either eliminated, the game reducing by one player each round. (Alternatively, the loser is given the letter 'S' and, for each subsequent loss, another letter from the word, spoon, dropping out of the game on reaching 'N'.) The game continues until only one player remains, becoming the overall winner.
Strategies may include:
Spoons Card Game How Many Cards
- Bluffing: Bluffing is allowed. Spoons may be reached at any time as long as they are not touched. This may distract the others or even cause someone to grab a spoon prematurely which may result in their elimination.
- Eyes on the spoons: Players keep an eye on the number of spoons in case one has been taken without anyone noticing.
- Eyes off the cards: Players play without looking at their hands, just passing the discards on while watching the spoons.
Other variants[edit]
- Extreme Spoons: Instead of placing the spoons in the middle, they are placed in some inconvenient location nearby.
- Joker Spoons: The deck includes jokers which act as wild cards.
- Tongue: The first player to collect a quartet sticks out their tongue. The last one to do likewise loses.
See also[edit]
- Happy Families - another quartet-collecting game
- My Ship Sails - a collecting game in which seven or eight cards of one suit are needed to win
References[edit]
- ^ abcdeArnold 2009, p. 89. sfn error: no target: CITEREFArnold2009 (help)
- ^ abParlett 2008, p. 399. sfn error: no target: CITEREFParlett2008 (help)
- ^Arneson 2019. sfn error: no target: CITEREFArneson2019 (help)
Literature[edit]
- Arnold, Peter (2009). Chambers card games for families. Chambers Harrap, Edinburgh. ISBN978-0550-10470-0
- Parlett, David (2008). The Penguin Book of Card Games, Penguin, London. ISBN978-0-141-03787-5
External links[edit]
- Arneson, Erik (2019). How to Play Spoons at www.thesprucecrafts.com.
- Rules for Spoons at boardgames.about.com
- Rules for Pig at Classic Games and Puzzles.com