Card Suit Pickup

Grade level: 2-8
Equipment: Decks of cards
Game Description: This is a fitness building relay-style game for PE class, using decks of cards. There are 4 teams, each one representing either diamonds, spades, clubs, or hearts. Teams will try to collect cards of their own suit by hustling to their deck and grabbing a card, one player at a time. The first team to collect all of the cards of their suit wins. Play again and again until you can’t run anymore! Also switch up the movement style from running to an activity of choice – lunges anyone?

  1. Teams start lined up in relay format along one edge of the gym, each across from a deck of cards.
  2. On the signal, the first person in line runs to the cards, flips over the top card, and takes a look.
  3. If the suit of the card matches that team, the player brings it back to his team. If it doesn’t match, it goes to the bottom of deck.
  4. Players take turns in relay style until all cards of suit are found.

3 Comments

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  1. So….I’ve been a PE teacher (grades 3-5) for three days now! This was the first activity we did and it was very popular! I used five decks of cards so that I only had five kids in each line. I put each deck on a chair seat and spread the cards out so kids could pick any card. I figured this was more fair/random. Plus, I didn’t have to worry about the cards staying in a stack or kids not getting the card on the bottom. When a “wrong” card was chosen, it was put under the chair. We’ll do this again for sure. Thanks!

  2. We came up with a similar version of this called it Crazy Card-i-oh! (get it…cardio). students had to pick up a particular value (ex.) numbers that give them the product of 48, sum of 15, etc. The decks were spread on one side of the gym upside down randomly. Can only bring one card back at a time/need to trade for another.
    Love your site – thanks!

  3. Norma Jean Sandoval

    We added a “card dealer”. Students ran to the “card dealer” (located at the other end of the floor) and collected a card. We switched dealers every couple of minutes.

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