While we love board games, quick and snappy card games are firm favourites in our house, especially at Christmas time when everyone is home a bit more and there’s less homework to be thinking about.
These 5 games are our favourites and are all played at least weekly by my children.

Five Brilliant Family Card Games
Exploding Kittens
It’s probably no surprise that Exploding Kittens takes the top spot. We’ve also recently enjoyed the Minion version and my 14 year old is hoping for the Streaking Kittens expansion pack for Christmas this year.
Exploding Minions can take anywhere between about 10 minutes and half an hour depending on how many people play. My 5 year old loves it as much as the adults so it’s definitely a great one for around the table after Christmas dinner.
Each player is given a certain number of cards which can do different things and the idea is not to turn over an Exploding Kitten card. The gameplay is easy to understand and I like that the cards help out with little clues as to what each one means.
Dino Dump
Dino Dump is a game we’ve had for years that the kids keep coming back to. It’s vaguely dinosaur themed but the game is really about the numbers on the cards and getting rid of them as fast as you can. It also comes with disgusting smelling stickers for the loser!
The Muddles
This game is about mixing animals to make a new one. A pig and a frog is a POG, a cow and a worm is a WEE and a jellyfish and a bee is a BELLYFISH. Each mix up animal is worth a different number of points and the winner is the player with the most points at the end.
The Muddles is for 2-4 players and says age 6+, but my 5 years old joins in quite happily.
Colour Brain
Colour Brain is a must have game for Disney fans young and old. Players have to guess the colour or multiple colours of different movie characters or their clothing. It’s great fun and I’m always surprised at how little I know!
Santa Banter
Zeus on a Moose ( pictured ) doesn’t seem to be available at the moment, but Santa Banter and Obama Llama are the same type of game.
Describe, rhyme and act out as many festive rhymes as you can. It’s great fun for kids and adults, especially with friends or family!
What’s your favourite family card game?
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