Some 7th- to 10th-century manuscripts trace the earliest instance of playing cards to China. The earliest authentic references to playing cards in Europe dates back to circa 1377, and the history of English playing cards dates back to mid 15th century.

Per the basic rules of a card game, when a game is played, the players arrange themselves in a circle around a horizontal surface on which the cards will be played. The players face inwards, and are seated so that they cannot see each other’s cards.

A pack of cards is used to play card games. All cards are identical in shape and size, and each card has a two sides; one being the face and another the back. Backs in a pack are indistinguishable and faces may all be unique, depending on the game. In both cases, any card is identifiable by its face. The set of cards is called a pack in British English and deck in U.S. English.

In a number of card games, cards in a pack are grouped in suits. Dealing is done either counterclockwise or clockwise. It is usually assumed that the dealing is clockwise for games from North America, North and West Europe and Russia; counterclockwise for South and East Europe and Asia, also for Swiss games and all Tarot games.

Card games for a solo player are called Solitaire in the U.S and Patience in the U.K.

Some of the popular traditional card games are Bridge, Canasta, Cribbage, Euchre, Hearts, Pinochle, Pitch, Rummy, Solitaire, Spades and Whist.

A child’s mind is constantly growing and developing. They require constant stimulation educationally in order to fully develop analytical and logical skills to their full potential. Of course, children would rather play games rather than read a book. However, if you allow them to spend their time playing mindless games that do not aid in their intellectual growth, they will not fully grow mentally.

Card games are especially easy to use as educational tools for children. Playing the right type of card games can significantly enhance a child’s mental calculating abilities, as well as problem solving skills.

Since card games involve numbers and a degree of mental calculation, math card games are to help children learn multiplication table, as well as hone their mental calculation skills that they constantly use.

An example of one educational game kids can play with cards is a game called “war.” The game requires a deck of cards for each team of two players. Before the game starts, children write Ace = 1, J = 10, Q = 11, K = 12 on a board. They pair up and shuffle the deck and deal the cards evenly — stacking them face down in front of them. Both players turn over their top card at the same time and multiply the two cards and shout the answer. The winner puts the cards in his or her winning pile. In case of a tie, players keep turning the cards until someone wins the pile. When the entire stack has been played, the winner has the most points.