Youth Ideas - Card Sharks – Playing the Hand You Are Dealt in Life

Youth Ideas - Card
Sharks – Playing
the Hand You Are
Dealt in Life
www.CreativeYouthIdeas.com
www.creativeobjectlessons.com

Decks of cards are easy to find. And
everyone knows a card game or two.
With this icebreaker, cards are used to
sort people into different groups as well
as discover a little about each other!
They can also be used to explore
integrity, doubts, honesty, and personal
character.

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What You Need
Deck of normal playing cards. Add
additional decks for larger groups. I have
found boxes of enormously sized cards at
novelty shops that add even more fun to
the games. I’ve even found them as large
as an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper

Using Playing cards to Breaking into Groups
Shuffle cards and let each youth choose one.
(You can reduce the size of a deck to your
group side by removing some of the
numbers of each suit. Once youth have
chosen cards, you can force specific
combinations of youth by telling them to
group themselves in the following ways:

* Red vs Black – Two Teams according to the
color of the cards
* Odds & Evens – Two teams according to the
value of cards (Face cards have the values
Jack-11, Queen – 12, and King – 13)
* Suits – Four teams (Spades, Hearts,
Diamonds, Clubs)
* Call out any number and they must form
groups that add up to that number.
* BlackJack – Add up to 21
* Poker Hands – Groups of 5 cards (Which
group has the highest hand?)

- Four of a Kind – All four cards of each number
(groups of four)
- Straight Flush – 5 Cards Grouped by Colors and
lined up according to number.
- Full House – 3 of one card and two of another
- 3 of a kind – 3 cards of same number, 2
additional cards
- 4 of a kind – 4 cards of same number, 1
additional card
- Straight – 5 cards in order
- Flush – 5 cards of the same color
- Two Pairs – 2 sets of two plus another card

Games using Playing Cards
Build a Tower – Give groups of youth a deck or two of
playing cards, inside a box, and ask them to build the
tallest tower in a given period of time. Do not say it is
a competition between groups. Just that in X minutes
the tallest tower wins. The tallest tower could
actually be built when they put all their resources
together. What lessons can we learn from this?

Card elimination – When you call out
specific groupings of cards (or poker
hands), The youth must scramble to
form them. If groups do not meet the
specified criteria or are the last group to
form, they are eliminated from the
game. The last remaining group is the
winner.

Card Identity – Ask students to pick cards from the
deck that represent something about themselves.
These representations can be as shallow or deep as
the students’ imaginations. Have youth mingle and
share with one another their names and the cards
they have chosen and why. One might choose a
two because they have “2 parents” or “two feet”
etc. Another student might choose an ace because
they strive to “be an ‘ace’ at everything they do…
The opportunities are limitless.

Card Mixer – Before the activity, write
a question on each card to be shared
when the youth are mixing together.
(e.g. what is your favorite ice cream,
most embarrassing moment, favorite
musician, favorite scripture, etc.)
Match these questions to a future
discussion!

Go Fish! – 5 cards are dealt to each
player. In turn, players ask another
player for his/her cards of a specific
rank. (Example: “Ken, do you have
threes?”) A player may only ask for a
card of which he already holds at least 1
card. The person asked must hand over
all cards of that rank. If the call was
successful, the player has another turn.

But if the player asked has no cards of
that rank, he says “Go fish”, and the
asking player draws the top card from
the deck and it’s the next player’s
turn. When a player has all 4 cards of a
rank they are placed face up on the
table. The game ends when all sets are
formed, and the player with the most
cards wins.

Playing Card Line-up – Instruct the youth
to not peek at their cards, then pass out
one playing card to each member of the
group (you may need a few decks …). On
your signal, each youth places the card on
their forehead so that others can see the
card. Without talking, all youth then group
by suit, and then in numerical order (Is
Ace high or low? )

Instead of placing them on their
forehead where they can fall off, you
can also punch a hole in each card and
hand them on a strong around the
youth’s necks so that it hangs in the
back where they cannot see it but
others can. What worked or didn’t?
Who were the leaders? What are some
lessons?

Stratego – Play a variation of “stratego”
between two teams. Remove cards from the
deck so that there is 1-ace, 2-two’s, 3
three’s, etc. Designate jokers as bombs.
Leave only one king. The king can be
captured by any card. Use the jack with the
sword to his head as the spy. Play the game
just as you would “stratego”, but have teams
send representatives to a person on the
opposing team to do battle.

Do not reveal the card numbers to
teams, but merely who is the victor
of the battle. Those who lose battle
cannot reveal the victors total to
their teams and are removed to a
graveyard area. First team to kill the
king wins.

Team Sit – Give each team a suit of
cards, shuffled and one chair. On your
signal, players look at their cards and
without talking the ace takes the chair.
2 sits on their knees. 3 sits on the next
person’s knees. First team to sit in a
line wins.

Ten – Remove 10s and all face cards.
Have students choose a partner whose
card added to theirs will result in a sum
of 10… the combinations are numerous
(1-9, 2-8, 3-7, 4-6, 5-5) Last couple to pair
up is eliminated. Blindly exchange cards
with at least 3 people then have then go
again , repeating until you have a winner.

A Card Game and a Lesson
Play a game of “I Doubt It” it with the cards.
1. Divide into 2 to 4 teams.
2. In this game the objective is to be the first team
to discard all of their cards. The team who goes
first must discard their aces face down, the
second two’s, third, three’s… through King’s.
Each time play comes back to the team, a new
player must place the cards down, rotating
through team members.

3. As the team places the cards down they must
announce the quantity of cards being played
(i.e. 2 aces, 1 two, 3 threes, 1 jack, 4 queens,
etc.) If a team doesn’t have a card of the value
they are supposed to play, then they must bluff.
4. A team may also bluff at any time by including
additional cards of another value in with the
cards of the correct value they are playing. For
example a person may only have two aces, but
includes a six and calls out “three aces.”

5. At any time another team may shout “I doubt
it.” The team that just played cards must turn
them over and reveal them. If the revealed
cards were a bluff and not 100% what they
were claimed to be, the team picks up the
entire discard pile. If they were telling the
truth, then the team who yelled “I doubt it”
must pick up the entire discard pile.
6. The game continues until one team runs out
of cards

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Discussion
• What is the primary objective of the card game “I
doubt it”? What are some of our objectives in life?
What does winning mean to you?
• What type of person is best at this game? Did
anyone in this game get a reputation for
dishonesty or for integrity? What reputation do
you have with others? How did you get that
reputation?

• What elements of this game caused you to lie,
misrepresent the truth, or stretch the truth?
What things tempt you to be less than honest in
real life? What things tempt you to act against
your normal character?
• Are you known for your honesty, for your
integrity? What actions in life build / destroy a
person’s character / reputation? Why is a good
reputation important? How does our reputation
affect how others respond to us?
• Is TRUTH flexible? Why or why not? Is there such
a thing as absolute truth? Why or why not?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL
INTEGRITY: How often in life do we try
to gain – benefit by either stretching
the truth or by an outright lie? How
many times do we sacrifice honesty
and integrity to get ahead of others in
the game of life? While in this game
we might get away with it do people
get away with it in life? Is integrity
really important? Honesty?

Why is integrity important to God? (1 Kings 9:4, 1
Chronicles 29:17, Job 2:2-4, Titus 2:7, Proverbs 10:9)
Instances of integrity in the Bible:
• Jacob, in the care of Laban’s property (Genesis
31:39)
• Joseph, in resisting Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:8-
12, 40:15)
• Moses, took nothing from the Israelites for his
services (Numbers 16:15)
• Samuel, in took nothing from the people for his
services (1 Samuel 12:4)

• David, in self-reproach for the
cutting of Saul’s robe (1 Samuel
24:5)
• Daniel, in staying pure and upright
(Daniel 1:8-20; Daniel 6:4)
• Nathanael, in whom was no guile
(John 1:47)
• Peter, when offered money by
Simon Magus (Acts 8:18-23)

DOUBTS: All of us have doubts at one time or
another, but that doesn’t mean we give up. We
make choices the best we can not knowing what
the next card in life holds for us.
What are some of your doubts related to the
Bible and your faith?

Divided the youth into groups to write a short
monologues of doubts that the following
Biblical characters might have had:
• The disciples when caught on the sea in
storm (Mark 4:26-40)
• Noah when he was asked to build the ark
(Genesis 6,7)

• Abraham when asked to sacrifice Isaac
(Genesis 22:1-10)
• Moses when God asked him to go to
Pharoah (Ex. 4:1-13)
• David when he faced Goliath (I Samuel
17,18)
• Daniel when he was thrown to the lion’s
den (Daniel 6)

1. What options did the above people have in
responding to their doubts? Why do you think
they acted as they did?
2. How could you rewrite the above passages as
modern situations which might create similar
doubts.
3. What was the time of greatest doubt in your life,
and why? Was it similar to any of the characters
above?
4. How are your doubts different or similar? Explain.

MAKE IT PERSONAL
Make a commitment to live a life
of integrity, to face your doubts
and keep playing the game
regardless of the cards you have
been dealt in life!

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you
need to know when planning your very own
object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed
object lesson ideas and another 200 object
lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms
and Names / Descriptions of God.
Learn More…
Creative Object Lessons

Youth Ideas - Card Sharks – Playing the Hand You Are Dealt in Life

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