I thought about making playing cards for this thread but there are plenty of great playing cards out there at the dollar stores for much cheaper than it would cost to make them at home. If you can't find them...get a regular set of cards and here are directions that you can add to your travel games:
GO FISH
Number of Players: 2-5
Deck: A standard 52-card deck
• One player shuffles the deck and deals the cards one at a time to each player until each player has 5 cards
• The rest of the deck is placed face down in the center
• The first player asks another player, “Do you have a 5?” or any other value or face card he/she may name, so long as he/she is holding a card with the same number. The player being asked must hand over any “fives” he/she has, and the first player can then ask any player for another card.
• If the player cannot supply the card requested, he/she says: “GO FISH!” and the asking player must draw the to card from the stack. If the drawn card matches three cards of a value he/she already holds, he/she can lay down the four, and continue.
• Otherwise, the play moves to his/her left. This continues until one player has laid down his/her entire hand in matched sets of four cards each. The first player to do this is the winner
SNAP!
Number of Players: 2-4
Deck: A standard 52-card deck
• The dealer deals all cards evenly to all players face down.
• The youngest player begins by turning over the top card of his/her stack to start a new pile of cards in front of him/her. The next player turns over the top card of his stack to start a new pile in front of him/her. The other players follow in turn.
• When someone turns over a card that matches the top card of another player’s pile, the first person to see the match and call out “SNAP!” wins the two piles with the matching cards on top. These cards are added to the winner’s stack.
• Play continues where it left off. When a player runs out of cards he is out of the game.
• Play continues until one player is left with all the cards.
OLD MAID
Number of Players: two or more players
Deck: From a standard 52 card pack remove one queen leaving 51 cards.
• The dealer deals out all the cards to the players (generally some will have one more card than others - this does not matter). The players all look at their cards and discard any pairs they have (a pair is two cards of equal rank, such as two sevens or two kings).
• The dealer begins. At your turn you must offer your cards spread face down to the player to your left. That player selects a card from your hand without seeing it, and adds it to her hand. If it makes a pair in her hand she discards the pair. The player who just took a card then offers her hand to the next player to her left, and so on.
• If you get rid of all your cards you are safe - the turn passes to the next player and you take no further part.
• Eventually all the cards will have been discarded except one queen (the old maid) and the holder of this queen loses.
SPOONS, TONGUE or PIG - This is my favorite game to play especially if you are traveling with a big group! It is lots of fun to get everyone together in one hotel room and play this game!!! You will not find a playing card set for this game...but you can use a regular set of cards or any of the disney playing cards as they have "four of a kind" in the snap, old maid and go fish sets.
Number of Players: 3 to 13 players. Best with 6 to 13 players.
Deck: A standard 52-card deck
Goal: To be the first to collect four cards of the same rank. If an opponent beats you to that goal, to not be the last to realize it.
Setup : One player shuffles the deck and deals the cards one at a time to each player until each player has 4 cards. For Spoons: Put the spoons in the middle of the table so that every player can reach them. You need one spoon for each player except one. Example: with 8 players, you need 7 spoons.
Game Play
• The dealer starts off play by picking up one card from the remaining card stack and either keeping it if it matches one of the cards in their hand or placing it upside down next to the player on their left. Players simultaneously pick up the card they've received from the opponent on their right and choose one card from their hand to pass to the opponent on their left. Each player can never have more than four cards in his hand, so it's illegal for a player to pick up a new card before passing one to the left.
• In this game you do not have to take individual turns and the faster you go the better...remembering that you can only have four cards in your hand at one time!
• When a player collects four of a kind, he does one of the following actions, depending on which version of the game is being played:
Spoons: As subtly as possible, take a spoon and place it in front of yourself.
Pig: Quietly place a finger on the tip of your nose.
Tongue: Quietly, but visibly, stick out your tongue.
• When one player does this, every other player must do likewise as quickly as possible. The last player to grab a spoon, touch his nose, or stick out his tongue is the loser.
OPTIONAL: While playing Spoons or Tongue, players who either take a spoon or stick out their tongue can continue to pick up and pass cards, making it more difficult for other players to realize what has happened. (The player who actually collected four cards of the same rank must always pass the card they just picked up, because passing any other card would break up their four-of-a-kind.) This option is not available when playing Pig, since one of your hands will be occupied with touching your nose.
• Scoring: The last player to grab a spoon, touch his nose, or stick out his tongue is the loser and is eliminated from the game.
OPTIONAL: Each player has three lives. The last player to grab a spoon, touch his nose, or stick out his tongue is the loser and loses a life. When a player loses all three of his lives (which can be represented by the letters P-I-G), he's eliminated from the game.