Card Games to Play Alone

One of the greatest things about card games is that you do not need anyone else to play a great game. There are a range of card games that you can play alone. All you need is a simple pack of cards and you can keep yourself busy for hours playing classic solitary card games.

The most popular one person card game is solitaire. There are many different versions of solitaire. You can easily play any of them with a deck of cards. Most people know the simple version of Solitaire. It is a classic game that is often passed down through families as older members teach younger members of the family how to play.

The classic solitaire game is played by laying out rows of cards. You then have to use the remaining deck to try to clear all the cards. You must match cards by color and suit to make a sequence of cards ranging from the ace to the king. It may seem simple, but anyone can tell you that winning a game of solitaire can be challenging.

In the different variations of solitaire, the main differences usually are in the lay outs of the spread. Most versions still following the general matching rules of the classic game. Some have special rules or may match the cards differently.

Free Cell is a version of solitaire where all the cards are laid out from the start into piles of all cards face up. You are given 4 free cells where you can place cards that you need to move. The object is still to match cards, alternating colors, following in order from ace to king. This is often considered one of the harder versions of the game.

Many of the newer solitaire games are now available on computer. This allows you to play without even the need for a deck of cards. You do not need to know the layout because the computer games do it all for you. You can easily learn how to play new games since the computer games are often made to make learning the game simple.

Playing card games by yourself is a great way to kill time. Plus you do not have to find someone to play with. You can put together a solitaire game and play all day. You’d probably be surprised at just how fun solitaire can be. Most people think it would be boring, but once you get started you get drawn into the challenge of trying to win. Most solitaire games are very challenging and winning is not easy at all.

Solitaire card games allow you to have a fun time using just a deck of cards. No matter where you are you can put together a game to entertain yourself. With all the different variations you can spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to win them all. In addition, your brain gets a nice workout from trying to solve the game. All around, playing card games all by yourself is something that is fun and educational.

History Of Solitaire Card Game

Like the origin of playing cards, the origin of solitaire is largely unknown as there are no historical records to support it. There is much conjecture and controversy about the history of Solitaire as to where it actually began. However the first written documentation of solitaire doesn’t show up until the end of the 16th century and since then Solitaire has had a long history and at one time had a less than stellar reputation.

Around the 12th century the game “Al-qirq” (the mill, in Arabic), which later became the game of “Alquerque”, was the most prevalent game until around the end of the 12th century in Europe. Playing cards were first introduced in Italy in the 1300s. During that time they also became popular in Northern Europe. There is a card game called Tarok that was invented around that time that is still played to this day. It is also believed that solitaire games were first played with tarot cards, which would indicate that solitaire most likely preceded traditional multi-player card games.

The French engraving of Princess de Soubise showing her playing a card game, dates from 1697. Legend says that Solitaire was invented by Pelisson, a French mathematician, to entertain Louis XIV – known as “Roi Soleil” (Sun King). Another legend says that a unfortunate French nobleman, while imprisoned in the Bastille, devised the game using a Fox & Geese Board (the Fox & Geese Board has been used for a variety of board games in Northern Europe since the Vikings). There is doubt about these legends, since Ovide wrote about the game and described it in his book “Ars Amatoria”.

The end of the sixteenth century was an active period for the invention of various card games. This was when the ace first appeared as high instead of low in the rankings of the cards. Several new card games were invented during this time and new variations were added, so this is likely a time when solitaire games were invented and named as well.

The first known solitaire game rules were recorded during the Napoleonic era. The author of War and Peace, Tolstoy, enjoyed playing solitaire and mentioned it in a scene from his famous novel. Tolstoy sometimes used cards to make decisions for him in a somewhat superstitious way. Most early literature mentioning patience is of French origin. Even the very word ‘solitaire’ is of a French origin, and it means ‘patience’. The names of most early solitaire games are French names as well, with the most well known being La Belle Lucie. When Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena in 1816 he used to play Patience to pass the time. Deported to the island lost in the ocean, knew what confinement felt like fully; he also knew how cards could solace one sentenced to solitude. During his exile at St Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte played patience in his spare time. Some solitaire games were named after him, such as Napoleon at St. Helena, Napoleon’s Square, etc. It is not known whether Napoleon invented any of these solitaire games or someone else around that same time period.

Publications about solitaire began to appear in the late nineteenth century. Lady Adelaide Cadogan is believed to have written the first book on the rules of solitaire and patience games called “Illustrated Games of Patience” just after the Civil War (1870) containing 25 games. It is still reprinted occasionally even today. Other non English compilations on solitaire may have been written before that, however. Before this, otherwise there was no literature about solitaire, not even in such books as Charles Cotton’s The Compleat Gamester (1674), Abbé Bellecour’s Academie des Jeux (1674), and Bohn’s Handbook of Games (1850), all of which are used as reference on card games.In England “Cadogan” is a household word for solitaire in the same manner that “Hoyle” is for card games.

Lady Cadogan’s book spawned other collections by other writers such as E.D.Chaney, Annie B. Henshaw, Dick and Fitzgerald, H. E. Jones (a.k.a. Cavendish), Angelo Lewis (a.k.a. Professor Hoffman), Basil Dalton, and Ernest Bergholt. E.D. Chaney wrote a book on solitaire games called “Patience” and Annie B. Henshaw wrote a book with an interesting title “Amusements for Invalids”. Several years later Dick and Fitzgerald in New York published “Dick’s Games of Patience” in 1883, followed by a second edition that was published in 1898. Author, Henry Jones, wrote a fairly reliable book on solitaire called “Patience Games”. Another Jones, not related to Henry, Miss Mary Whitmore Jones wrote 5 volumes of solitaire books over a twenty year period around the the 1890′s. Several other publishers of various game books also added solitaire to their long lists of games in their titles. One of the most complete solitaire books was written by Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith. Their latest edition contains rules to over 225 solitaire games and was used in this writing.

Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” mentions a scene that took place in 1808 where the characters were playing patience. Charles Dickens “Great Expectations” mentions solitaire in its story. In Evelyn Waugh’s “A Handful of Dust”, a character plays patience while waiting for news of a death to reach London.

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel [The Brothers Karamazov], the character Grushenka played a solitaire game called “Fools”, a Russian equivalent of “Idiot’s Delight”, to get through times of crisis. A very popular solitaire game, spider solitaire, was played by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Somerset Maugham’s “The Gentleman in the Parlour” mentions Spider solitaire and quotes playing solitaire as “a flippant disposition. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of [Mice and Men], protagonist George Milton often plays Solitaire on the road and on the farm. In “Peter Duck”, one of the books in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series, Captain Flint keeps himself occupied by playing Miss Milligan.

In the 1962 movie “The Manchurian Candidate”, Raymond Shaw is compelled to perform specific actions through a brainwashing trigger, which often includes a game of traditional solitaire and finding the queen of diamonds. In the Finnish TV-series “Hovimäki” Aunt Victoria is very fond of playing solitaire.

Several solitaire games have gained fame through literature and other avenues. Some solitaire games were invented in unexpected places. A notable inventor of solitaire games was Bill Beers. He was in a mental asylum when he invented a variation of Cribbage Solitaire. Prisoners had plenty of time to play solitaire, but were unable to use traditional cards because they could be used as an edged weapon. They were forced to use thicker tiles for cards that were bulky and hard to handle.

A famous casino is responsible for the invention of a very popular solitaire game. Mr. Canfield, who owned a casino in Saratoga, invented a game where one would purchase a deck of cards for $52 and obtain $5 for every card played to the foundations. He gained an average of $25 per game, however, each game required a dealer of sorts to watch the player, so the profit was not as high as one might think. The actual name of this popular game was Klondike, but the name Canfield has stuck and is almost as commonly used as the word patience. Due to its difficulty to win, the time needed to play and the lack of choices along the way, Klondike has lost some popularity to other popular solitaire games. Today most people refer to Klondike as simply Solitaire.

Both solitaires and reasons why people enjoy playing with these patchworks of cards have, of course, changed since the old times the solitaires appeared. In the contemporary world, we sometimes need a break from an everyday hustle and tedious treadmill. Solving solitaires is not only a way of time-killing distraction; it is also a sure way to relax after work. Long winter nights, it helped Jack London’s characters to amuse their leisure. A great musician, Nicolo Paganini was also in favor of solving solitaires; his best-liked solitaire was later called after his name.

A good solitaire not only helps you relax and kill time; it is a great mental gymnastic as well. This is why solitaires were appealing to mathematicians like Martin Gardner and Donald Knut. As his contemporaries witnessed, Prince Metternich, an eminent 19-century diplomat, used to sit and ponder over knotty solitaires before starting most difficult negotiations.

Today most people refer to Klondike as simply ‘Solitaire’. Due to its difficulty to win, the time needed to play and the lack of choices along the way, Klondike has lost some popularity to other popular solitaire games.

Classic Kids Card Games

Card games are something that anyone of any age can play. They are stimulating and they can bring people together. Classic games teach kids about math, matching and many other skills. Teaching kids to play games is something that will stick with them throughout life and give them something to do other than sit in front of the television or the computer.

Kids card games can prove to be a great learning experience for a child. The colors, numbers and other aspects of the games can teach your child a lot. Your child will learn about numbers, counting, matching and memory skills. A simple card game can actually teach your child much more than you could ever imagine.

Teaching children how to play card games is something that will stick with them throughout their lifetime. Most adults play cards, either leisurely on their own or with friends. Knowing how to play cards can be a great way to get to know others. It is also a great way to bring the family together. Once your child knows how to play games, they can join in on family card game night.

Most children start off playing special card games. These games, like Old Maid and Go Fish, require special card decks that feature colorful designs. They are simple to understand for even a child that can not read because the pictures can be used. The main idea of these games is to make matches, which is something event he smallest child can easily catch onto.

The easiest way to teach a child how to play card games is to show them how to play. Most children learn best by watching something as it is being taught. You can engage a child in a card game, teaching them as you play. This will help them to learn how to play and to get the hang of the game much more quickly then simply telling them how to play.

Most classic card games have a suggested age range with them so you can choose an age appropriate game for your child. However, it is important to keep in mind that all kids are different and you should choose something based on your child’s abilities and skills. You may be surprised at how quick your child catches to card games. Many kids find games challenging which makes them more eager to learn how to play.

Some of the games that are popular for kids includes slapjack and war. Slapjack involves some physical aspects that many kids love. The cards are dealt out to each player and the object is to lay cards until a jack comes up. Once a jack comes up everyone tries to be the first to slap it. Whoever slaps it first gets the pile of cards. The winner is the player who has the most cards at the end. War is another great game for kids. Players are dealt the entire deck evenly. Players lay cards in hopes of having the highest number. If players lay the same number card then war ensues. Players have to keep laying cards until someone has the highest card. Whoever has the highest card gets the pile. Like slapjack, the goal is to have the most cards at the end.

Kids card games can really bring you and your kids together. Playing cards is a great way to spend time together. Classic games also help teach kids math skills without them even recognizing that they are learning. Card games are just something that makes for fun for everyone.

Math Card Games – A Simple Way to Make Math More Fun in Your Classroom

Everyone knows how to play cards, and those that do not love learning how. Math card games can be games a teacher dreams up themselves or adaptations of familiar games. By having sets of cards easily available, teaching a few common games with easy to follow rules and learning how to use your computer to save time, any math class can begin to use card games to make math more fun in their classroom. This article will give a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

First of all it is imperative to learn to use your computer to make your own cards or to download card games from websites. Most people think spreadsheets and data base programs are for crunching numbers but they can be a valuable tool to make game cards. Once you learn to do this, you will have your math facts and other problems at your finger tips and ready to print when needed. If you purchase a digital downloadable product, that gives you printable math card games to use whenever you want. They will also give you ideas to jump start your own creative juices. So, take the time to learn to use the computer tools available, we all know our children are more computer savvy than us, so twist their arms to show you how!

In addition to making your own math cards, compiling cards sets from popular commercial games will add to your arsenal. Whether it is traditional deck of cards or a popular game with numbers and colors or shapes, these cards can be used the classroom. Adaptations to many commercial card game with single digit numbers can be as simple as adding or multiplying the card being placed on a pile to the one that is already there! Combine sets of cards together to make larger decks and adapt the game for more people or dream up new rules. The important piece here, is to think ahead and print off card sets, onto tag weight paper, and search at yard sales for enough sets of commercial cards so that when it comes time to play, there are plenty to go around.

Finally, taking the time at the beginning of the year to make sure the students understand the rules to some common basic card games will save loads of time when actually playing them as fun math games. You might think everyone has played some sort of matching game where you have to remember where cards are and match them, but there will be some who do not know that game. The same with card games where you draw from a pile and discard or ones where you ask other players if they have certain cards. Once you learn how to play games involving these core rules, most any card game introduced will be easy to learn as they all are based on the same principles.

Keeping it simple is a great way to start with your development of some fun math card games to use with your students. Children often prefer the simpler games than the more complicated ones played on their home video game systems. Be sure to keep thinking of ways to make math more fun and have some fun yourself playing these card games with the students.

Sue Gnagy Fegan used a structured, sequential multisensory teaching approach for the past 34 years. She saw first hand the benefits of engaging students in productive, hands on activities in class. She created and has presented Make it Fun! Make it Challenging! Make it Multisensory! workshop at conferences across the country.

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