Some of the most fun you can have fits in a coat pocket. A pack of cards, a couple of dice or a pencil and a scrap of paper can fill a rainy afternoon, a long wait at the doctor's or the time between pudding and bedtime. These games have been played for generations because they work: quick to learn, easy to tweak and endlessly replayable.
Card games build counting, memory and patience, while paper games sharpen spelling and strategy. Best of all, they get everyone round the same table. Here is how to play the classics, a few fresh twists, and how to invent a game of your own.
The Bare Necessities: A Kit That's in the Bag
You only need three things: a standard pack of 52 cards, two dice and a pencil and paper. Keep them together in a zip bag or old pencil case and you have a games kit ready for cafés, train journeys and grandparents' houses.
- A full pack of cards (count them, a missing card ruins pairs)
- Two or more dice
- Pencils and a pad of plain or squared paper
Squared paper from a maths book makes dots and boxes grids in seconds.
Card Games You'll Want to Snap Up
Snap is the perfect first game: deal all the cards, take turns placing one face up on a shared pile, and shout 'Snap!' when two in a row match. Whoever shouts first wins the pile. Pairs, also called pelmanism, is a memory game where all the cards lie face down and you turn over two at a time, hoping for a match.
Beggar my neighbour is pure luck, which makes it a great leveller between ages. Deal out the whole pack. Players take turns laying one card on the pile. When someone plays an ace, king, queen or jack, the next player must pay four, three, two or one cards respectively. If they turn up another ace or picture card while paying, the payment passes along. If not, the player who laid the picture card wins the whole pile. You win by collecting every card.
For little ones, play snap with just two suits so matches come round faster.
Pencil and Paper Games That Draw a Crowd
Noughts and crosses gets dull once you know the trick, so try a twist. Play on a 4 by 4 grid and aim for four in a row. Try upside-down noughts and crosses, where whoever makes three in a row loses. Or draw nine small grids inside one big one: where you play in a small grid decides which small grid your opponent must play in next.
Consequences is a silly story game. Each player writes a character's name at the top of a strip of paper, folds it over and passes it on. Then add who they met, where they met, what one said, what the other said and what happened next, folding and passing each time. Unfold and read them aloud for giggles.
Want a gentler hangman? Try melting snowman, where each wrong guess rubs out part of a snowman, or build a flower and pluck a petal for each miss.
Roll Your Own: Make a Board Game From Scratch
Making a board game is a whole afternoon project. Draw a winding track of squares on a large sheet of paper or the inside of a cereal box. Add a theme, such as a jungle, space or a journey to the shops. Mark some squares with surprises: go forward three, miss a turn, swap places.
Make counters from bottle tops, buttons or folded paper, and roll a dice to move. Write the rules down, play it once, then change anything that felt unfair. Testing and tweaking is exactly what real game designers do.
Add a pile of homemade challenge cards: 'hop on one leg for ten seconds or go back two'.
Ideas to try
Speedy Snap
Spot matching cards and shout first to win the pile.
You'll need: pack of cards
- Deal all the cards face down between players.
- Take turns placing your top card face up on a shared pile.
- Shout 'Snap!' when two cards in a row match in number or picture.
- The first to shout takes the pile.
- Whoever ends up with every card wins.
Pairs Memory Match
Turn over two cards at a time and remember where the matches hide.
You'll need: pack of cards (use fewer for younger players)
- Lay the cards face down in neat rows.
- On your turn, flip any two cards.
- If they match, keep them and go again.
- If not, turn them back over in the same place.
- The player with the most pairs at the end wins.
Beggar My Neighbour
A luck-only card battle where picture cards demand payment.
You'll need: pack of cards
- Deal all the cards face down between players.
- Take turns placing one card on a central pile.
- When an ace, king, queen or jack is played, the next player pays four, three, two or one cards.
- If a picture card or ace turns up while paying, the next player now pays instead.
- If no picture card or ace appears, the last person to play one wins the pile.
Dots and Boxes Showdown
Join dots in turn and claim boxes by drawing the fourth side.
You'll need: paper, two different coloured pens
- Draw a grid of dots, five by five to start.
- Take turns drawing one line between two neighbouring dots.
- If your line completes a box, write your initial in it and go again.
- Keep going until every box is taken.
- The player with the most boxes wins.
Silly Story Consequences
Write a story in secret folds and unfold a ridiculous ending.
You'll need: long strips of paper, pencils
- Each player writes a character's name at the top and folds it over.
- Pass it on and write who they met, then fold and pass again.
- Keep going with where they met, what each said and what happened next.
- Unfold your final strip.
- Read the stories aloud in your most dramatic voice.
Melting Snowman Word Guess
A friendlier take on hangman where a snowman melts with each wrong guess.
You'll need: paper, pencil, rubber
- One player thinks of a word and draws a dash for each letter.
- Draw a snowman with a hat, scarf, nose, eyes and buttons.
- Others guess letters one at a time.
- Right letters go on the dashes; each wrong guess rubs out one part of the snowman.
- Guess the word before the snowman melts away.
Draw a Beetle Dice Race
Roll the dice to build a beetle, body part by body part.
You'll need: one dice, paper and pencil for each player
- Take turns rolling one dice.
- You need a 6 to draw the body before anything else.
- Then roll a 5 for the head, a 4 for each of six legs, a 3 for each antenna, a 2 for each eye and a 1 for the tail.
- Pass the dice on after each roll.
- The first to finish a whole beetle shouts 'Beetle!' and wins.
Design Your Own Board Game
Invent a themed board game with your own rules and counters.
You'll need: large paper or flattened cereal box, felt-tip pens, dice, buttons or bottle tops for counters
- Pick a theme and draw a winding track of about 40 squares.
- Add special squares like 'go back two' or 'roll again'.
- Make counters and write the rules on a card.
- Play a test game with the family.
- Change any rule that felt unfair, then play again.
🧑 The grown-up bit
Dice, buttons and bottle-top counters are small enough to choke on, so keep them away from babies and toddlers under 3, including younger siblings at the table. Snap can get loud and slappy, so agree on 'hands flat on the table' to save fingers. For mixed ages, choose luck-based games like beggar my neighbour so younger players have a fair chance.
Questions parents ask
What age can children start playing card games?
Many 4-year-olds can play snap and simple pairs with a smaller set of cards. Games like beggar my neighbour and dots and boxes usually click from around 5 or 6.
How do I stop arguments when someone loses?
Agree the rules before you start, keep games short so there is always a rematch, and model being a cheerful loser yourself. Luck-based games help, because nobody can be blamed for the result.
We've lost some cards. Is the pack useless?
Not at all. Remove the lonely partner cards and play pairs or snap with what is left, or use the spare cards for a homemade board game's challenge pile.