No fancy equipment to buy! All you need is a deck of ordinary cards! Simple card games are fun, and Go Fish is so easy even little children can join in and enjoy the game.

Go Fish at Jellystone Park Pelahatchie/Yogi on the Lake

This one is good for the youngest players. All they need to be able to do is recognize numbers.

• Five cards are dealt to each player, if three to six players are involved. With only two players, seven cards are dealt to each.
• All remaining cards are placed face down and smooshed around. This is the Fishing Lake*.
• Then, choose a player to go first.
• On each person’s turn, ask any player for a specific card. For example: “Mary, please give me all your 9s.” You must already hold at least one card of the number you ask for.
• If the player you ask has any cards of the requested number, she must give all of her cards of that number to you. In the example, Mary would have to give you all of her 9s.
• If you get one or more cards from the player you ask, you get another turn.
• It starts again and you may ask any player for any number you already hold, including the same one you just asked for. If the person you ask has no relevant cards, they say, “Go fish.”
• You then draw any card from the Fishing Lake. If you happen to draw a card of the number asked for, show it to the other players and your turn continues. Otherwise, it is the next player’s turn. You add the drawn card to your hand.

NOTE: The “next player” is the one who said “Go fish.’ When you collect a set of four cards of the same number, immediately show the set to the other players and place the four cards face down in front of yourself. That is a “match”.

• Go Fish continues until either someone has no cards left in their hand or the Lake runs out.
• The winner is the player who then has the most matches (sets of four). For younger children you can deem “matches” a pair of a number (2 cards instead of 4) which allows them to “win” a few extra times and keeps the game moving.

*Some folks like to stack the face-down cards in a pile. The Lake is more fun because it’s like the Lake here at Jellystone Park/ Yogi on the Lake.

Play Go Fish outdoors on your picnic table or inside your tent, cabin, or RV.

Then take the family fishing in Lake Pelahatchie for more fishing fun. Your child can learn a fun card game at Yogi on the Lake/Jellystone Park!

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