I have been having so much fun teaching Ethan some cool card games. Growing up, we had a deck of Old Maid cards that we played Old Maid with so I had no idea that you could play Old Maid with a regular old deck of cards.
This game is great for kids between 5-10, because it is easy to learn and to play. This game is more fun if you have 3-6 players, but you can play with two players (which is easier for smaller children and putting together matches).
Before you can begin, remove all of the Queens in the deck except for one. Shuffle and distribute the cards, one at a time and face down.
Each player looks at their hands and pulls out any two cards that match in rank. Each player lays his match face down in a pile beside him. If a player has three cards of the same number, one stays in his hand.
After matches are all sorted, fan out your cards for the other player to grab from. Keep taking turns and making matches. Since there is only one Queen, the Old Maid, no match can be made for her. At the end of the hand, the player left holding the Old Maid loses the game.
You could also pretend to cry, like Ethan demonstrates for our photo!
Want to switch the game up? How about making the Old Maid an Old Boy and using the Jack as your odd man out!