The Best Matching Card Games for Family Fun!
Matching card games are the go-to activities for family outings and adventures! Whether planning a road trip, picnic in the park, Saturday morning on the patio, or a weekend at grandma's house, these kid-friendly matching games are a quick fix of educational fun!
Why Matching Card Games are the Ideal Family Activity
1. Pocket-Sized Fun With Matching Card Game Decks
A world of entertainment that is fun, educational, and fits in your pocket? Yes, please! Matching card games are a great way to game on the go and are so easy to toss in your backpack or the glove compartment for those long road trips! When boredom strikes, these portable games help kids play and learn while reducing screen time.
2. Matching Card Games Connect Multi-Generational Families
Most of our matching card games on this list have simple instructions for your earliest learners to understand while providing the interactive excitement teens need and crave. These portable games help connect a multi-generational family, allowing everyone to engage rather than defaulting to their screens during road trips or family gatherings.
3. Brain-Boosting Benefits in Matching Card Games
Fun and educational? Why yes, you can have both! Matching card games sneak in learning as players use planning, memory, concentration, and strategy during gameplay. In addition to improving social skills and soft skills like time management and collaboration, all these elements help strengthen cognitive function while providing an environment that supports social-emotional learning.
4. Matching Card Games Have Replayability
No two rounds of a matching card game are alike, making them exciting to play while helping players improve their skills with each turn. Beat your last score and improve your strategy while you learn with every round of gameplay.
5. Matching Card Games are Perfect for Every Occasion
Matching games are the trusty tool for making life’s simple moments more fun! Even those in-between moments on road trips or in the waiting room at the doctor's office where phone scrolling might be the default, consider an interactive card game instead! Most of the matching games on this list require very little space and setup time while turning "I'm bored" into an instant adventure!
6. Matching Card Games Help You Connect with your Loved Ones
Face-to-face interactions with friends and family can sometimes feel rare. When we haven't seen our friends and family in a while, we may feel the need to plan extravagant activities to make our time together special. However, a simple matching card game can be just as enjoyable. The key is to plan an activity that promotes social engagement, and gathering to play a deck of cards while enjoying a few laughs does just that! Meet for a card game at a local park, library, or coffee shop for wholesome fun that provides a casual activity that leaves room for meaningful conversations.
Our Top 8 Matching Card Games for All Ages
Matching Card Games for Younger Kids
1. Crazy Ates
Our variation of the classic "Crazy 8's" card game. Share food with the SimplyFun Buddies by matching a card from your hand to the color or number and type of food on the top card of the discard pile. The first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand wins!
How to Play:
Players take turns asking other players for cards, trying to collect sets of four matching fish cards. Players try to collect as many sets as possible and the player with the most sets when the cards run out wins!
2-6 players • 20 min • 4 & up
2. Chums
Our variation of the classic "Go Fish" card game. Players collect sets of four matching cards by taking turns asking the other players for cards from their hands. The player that has collected the most schools of fish (sets of four) when the cards run out wins!
How to Play:
Players take turns asking other players for cards, trying to collect sets of four matching fish cards. Players try to collect as many sets as possible and the player with the most sets when the cards run out wins!
2-6 players • 20 min • 4 & up
3. Buddy Match
Get to know SimplyFun's Buddies as they help you quickly find matches using size, color and character. But watch out, as your match must be different from the last player's to play your card!
How to Play:
Players try to play all their cards by matching them according to buddy name, background color, or the size of the buddy, without repeating the previous match type.
2-6 players • 10 min • 5 & up
4. Get the Fly
Our variation of "Old Maid" has players looking for the one fly among all the colorful frogs. Select cards from other player's hoping to find a match to a card in your own hand. Discard a pair when you make a match and be the last one with the fly card at the end of the game to win!
How to Play:
Players take turns choosing a card from other player's hands hoping to draw a match to a frog card in their own hand. Card pairs are then discarded. There is only one fly card. Be the player holding the fly card at the end of the game to win!
2-6 players • 15 min • 4 & up
Can you find the butterflies with the matching wings? Spin to see what kind of match to make - a color or shape or both. Everyone at the same time searches the butterfly field to collect as many matching butterflies as they can, so act fast.
How to Play:
Players spin the spinner to see what match to make, and then search for a butterfly that matches. The player who collects the most butterflies wins!
2-5 players • 10 min • 4 & up
Matching Card Games For Kids and Adults Ages 6+
Practice matching colors and shapes by quickly playing cards from your hand. Match a corner of your card with the center of the target card in both color and shape before another player makes the match.
How to Play:
Play cards with a corner that matches the center of the target card. The most recent card becomes the new target, and the first person to run out of cards wins!
2-6 players • 10 min • 7 & up
7. Sneaks
Players quickly pass cards one at a time to the player on their left. Be the first to collect four cards with the same number value and grab a sneaker. The player who fails to grab a sneaker quickly is eliminated from the game. The winner is the last player left with a sneaker.
How to Play:
Players pass cards one at a time to each other trying to collect four of a kind, and then race to grab one of the limited number of sneakers. The last player with a sneaker wins the game!
2-8 players • 30 min • 6 & up
8. Grill Party
Learn "more than" and "less than" concepts by placing and swapping food pieces on the grill to match situations on your food cards. Be the first to match all your cards to win. We can't promise you won't get hungry in the process.
How to Play:
Match your cards to combinations of food items on the grill by strategically swapping food. Be the first player to match all of your cards to win!
2-5 players • 20–30 min • 8 & up
Let's Play a Matching Card Game
Take a break from your devices, boost your brain power, and strengthen social relationships with matching card games. Learning and fun can go hand in hand with these awesome games, perfect for homeschooling, classrooms, and family game nights. So, the next time you want to encourage screen-free family time, consider pulling a few of these fun matching card games off the game shelf to connect through laughter and play!
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