A simple card game for children from the age of 3, ‘Old Maid’ is played by 2 players or more with a deck of cards. The game helps practice number recognition and matching skills.
The goal is to match cards that are alike without getting the Queen of Hearts which is the designated ‘Old Maid’ card.
How To Play ‘Old Maid’
Before playing, all the queens are removed from the deck except the Queen of Hearts (the ‘Old Maid’ card). The cards are then dealt equally to all players, face down. After sorting their cards, all the players put any matches down in front of them, face up.
The game then starts with the player to the right of the dealer going first. The player can choose any other player and pick a card from their hand without seeing what the card is, because the cards are kept in the other player’s hand, facing towards them.
After choosing a card, the player sees if it is a match to any cards in their hand and then puts the match down in front of them. The same player can then choose another card from any player and continue their chance until they can’t make a match. Then it’s the next player’s turn to do the same.
The game continues until all the matches are made and one player is left with the “Old Maid” card. The player is the loser of that round.