Go Fish is one of those games every child has played. It’s easy to learn and helps children 3 and up to recognize numbers and reason.
Setting-Up Go Fish
This game requires 2 or more players and just a deck of cards.
- One person, the dealer, passes out 5 cards to each player one by one, face down. Players may look at their own cards.
- The rest of the cards are placed face down in the middle of the table, where everyone can reach it. This is the draw pile.
Rules of Go Fish
The aim of the game is to make as many matches as possible.
- Before everyone starts, they need to check to see if they have two of a kind, such as two 8s or two kings. The two are taken out and placed in front of the player. That counts as a point. Three or four of a kind do not count.
- The youngest player starts the game. Turns are taken clockwise, or to the left.
- The current player will pick the number of a card they already have, like 9. They will then pick another player they suspect has the same number and say, “Do you have a 9?”
- If the other player has the number that is being asked for, the card is handed over. The match is taken out and placed by the receiving player, earning them a point. They take another turn.
- If the other player does not have the card that’s been asked for, that player tells them to “go fish.” The player that asked will have to take a card from the draw pile. It moves onto the next player.
- The game ends when all the cards have been matched.
- Each player counts their matches. The one with the most matches wins.