5 Family Friendly Card Games to Pack in Your RV

This pack of classic kids card games is an easy way to introduce children to playing cards.

Playing cards are one of my favorite parts of my childhood.  I grew up playing cards with my cousins and aunts.  I still play cards with both at family reunions in the summer.  I have fond memories of my My grandmother's sisters visiting from Texas in the summers.  There would be afternoon and late-night card game on the porch and in the kitchen at my grandmother's house.  The sounds of crickets and cicadas in the early evening as we played and laughed still lingers in my mind.  I have long since learned how to play Skip-Bo, Uno, Rook, and a host of other games.  Its a long-standing tradition in my family.  When I think about fun activities to do with my family, I naturally gravitate to cards.  The best thing about cards is that they are compact and easy to store.  This makes them the perfect activity to pack and take on any trip - especially to the campground!


If you are busy stocking your camper, run out and grab some classic staples and maybe even a new game to learn.  Today I'm recommending 5 games that you can pack them away for an evening game or rainy afternoon.  Chances are, you might even have an extra deck at home.  If you do, you are in luck and can just scoop up a deck to stash in your camper for a game night. One thing to consider is taking the time to instill the love of playing games early in your little ones.  Plus, playing games from your childhood is a way to keep you young at heart.

Card Games for Young Ones or The Young at Heart

Old Maid and Go Fish are the two classic games that anyone can play.  These are the standards that you can start teaching your little ones at an early age.  If you have young children or grandchildren, these games are the best place to start.  End the day with a quick game before bed.  Or, you could play a game while everyone waits for dinner to finish cooking on the grill.  It is an excellent way to fill in time while people are waiting for something to happen.  Children hate to wait, but will be easily distracted by a game!  And, they can save the day when you get that unexpected rain.

Go Fish and Old Maid came in a multi-pack that I ordered from Amazon with a set of Crazy 8's as well.

School Age and Up

Uno is another classic that anyone age 7 and up can enjoy.  It's a multi-generational game that really works well in a group.  We have this wilderness edition.  But the classic version works just fine too.  We have more than one deck, so we keep one in the camper and one at home.  I love this game and can fill up an afternoon playing one game after another.

Uno cards can be found anywhere.  So even if you forget to bring a deck, you could probably pick up a deck on the way to the campground.

Skip-Bo also works well for lots of ages.  It is another game for ages 7 and up even though children a little younger may participate.  I think both Skip-Bo and Uno are similar in the fact that they both deal with numbers and rules about how the numbers and what is drawn dictates what happens next.  Both games are a lot of fun.   Skip-Bo can take a little time to play and fills in a bit more time if you are looking for that.  Again, think rainy day or activity to help bridge gaps for kids that might need that.  But, again, I just think cards are really a lot of fun!

Skip-Bo is that next step game after children graduate from playing games like Old Maid or Go Fish.

If you are helping younger children play, you could partner a younger player with an older player to play in "teams" to help them learn the ropes for the first time.  For the second round, players could play independently.  I'm a big proponent of helping children learn how to play games to make it fun for everyone.  

Challenging But Fun

If you are looking for a game that has a little more challenge, try Quiddler.  This has become a new favorite at family reunions among my aunts.  It is a lot of fun.  Your goal is to go out first and use all of your cards to spell words hopefully spelling the longest words without a penalty.  You never know what you are going to get.  Leftover cards penalize your score.  You get extra points for the longest word.  This is an excellent game to play in the summer with kids that are on break to stretch those little minds.  And it is great fun to see what others come up with.  Okay.  So I'm a nerd at heart.  I don't care.  This game is still fun.  And I really love to beat my mother at this game!

If you are looking for something completely new that you may have never tried, Quiddler is a really fun word game.  We love this game in our family!

Each of these games is completely different.  Old Maid and Go Fish are both picture based games for younger children to play.  Uno and Skip-Bo are number based games that a wide group of players can participate in.  Finally, Quiddler is more of the Scrabble of card games with much more strategy involved.  

Do you have a favorite card game?  I'm going to be doing a second post next week on games with a classic deck of cards.  I have several favorites you don't want to miss!  So be sure to come back to see what games I'll be sharing.

Until next time...pack your cards....and...

This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.

Pin this post to your favorite Pinterest Board.