Printable Blank Playing Cards can be used with text, photos or images to make effective educational games. Simple card games are often the best.  They do not require a lot of learning time, thereby leaving more time for the subject being taught.  Even simple games that pair cards, such as Go Fish, are made challenging by the subject material being learned and reinforced.  Simply matching cards can be an enjoyable learning activity for individuals and small groups. 

There are also opportunities to use card games for classes where communication and interaction are the primary objective.  Such an example would be an ESL or Foreign Language class where students communicate in the target language to develop a card game and write the rules for it.

The design on the printed side of PlainCards ® is appropriate for all ages.  It solves the problem of finding materials that are mature enough for adult learners.  At the same time, children enjoy using real playing cards

Following are some links to sites that may be helpful when making your educational card games:

Links

Alphabetical List of Educational Card Games These 132 games were designed as part of EDTEC 670 and are not available for sale. Write to the authors for permission to create your own version of the games. They'll say yes!
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/Courses/EDTEC670/

ESL Card Games  http://www2.ice.usp.ac.jp/wklinger/QA/cardgameshome.htm      - 

Card Games, Rules, History of Cards http://thehouseofcards.com/

"Mechanics of Card Games"    This could be very helpful to a teacher preparing a guide for students to use when designing games and writing the rules.    http://www.pagat.com/

Clip Art & Photos

http://www.sla.purdue.edu/fll/JapanProj/FLClipart/ Royalty-free clip art collection for foreign/second language instruction.  Categories include verbs, adjectives, buildings, food and drinks, people and animals, sports, things and events, time, vehicles and medical.

http://www.freefoto.com/pictures/information/rules.asp FreeFoto.com claims to have the largest collection of free photographs for private non-commercial use on the Internet. 

http://www.allfree-clipart.com/main.html    Free Clip Art - Lots of Categories

http://www.classroomclipart.com     A large collection of free images for the classroom

http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx   Large selection of free clip art and photos from Microsoft Design Gallery

http://expressit.broderbund.com/1111_Art_Store/ArtSearch.asp?GType=CG&Sub=327   Broderbund has 25,000 images for free

We invite you to Download the QuickCards Program and see for yourself how easy it is to create decks of cards to help you teach.