In the third part of our series of card games to play with children we look at the fun game of Finger on the Nose. This game requires at least three people.
This incredibly silly card game remains a firm favourite at Christmas every year and can be played with the whole family.
Group the cards in sets of 4, for example 4 aces, 4 twos etc and take a set of 4 for each player. Try to make the cards as different from each other as possible, perhaps choosing 4 kings, 4 eights and 4 Aces if there are three players.
Shuffle the cards and deal them out. Each player will have 4 cards which are held in a fan to keep them hidden.
The aim of the game is to win by collecting 4 cards of the same value. Each player looks at their cards and chooses one to discard. This card is placed face down on the table.
When every player has selected a card the dealer says, ‘go’ and each player pushes their card to the player on their right.
The first player to collect a matching set quietly puts their finger on their nose. As soon as other players notice, they too put a finger on their nose. The last player to notice is out.
When a player is out, a set of 4 matching cards is removed and play starts again. The winner is the last remaining player.
To make the game a little more challenging remove one of the cards at the beginning of the game and replace it with an unused card from the pack. This ensures that one set cannot be completed and that there will be a final winner.