Object Lesson - Card Sharks – Playing the Hand You Are Dealt in Life

Object Lesson -
Card Sharks –
Playing the
Hand You Are
Dealt in Life
www.CreativeYouthIdeas.com
www.creativeobjectlessons.com

Decks of cards are easy to find.
And everyone knows a card
game or two. With this
icebreaker, cards are used to
sort people into different
groups as well as discover a
little about each other! They
can also be used to explore
integrity, doubts, honesty, and
personal character.

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What You Need
Deck of normal playing cards.
Add additional decks for larger
groups. I have found boxes of
enormously sized cards at
novelty shops that add even
more fun to the games. I’ve even
found them as large as an 8-1/2
x 11 sheet of paper

Using Playing cards to Breaking
into Groups
Shuffle cards and let each youth
choose one. (You can reduce the
size of a deck to your group side
by removing some of the
numbers of each suit. Once
youth have chosen cards, you
can force specific combinations
of youth by telling them to
group themselves in the
following ways:

* Red vs Black – Two Teams
according to the color of the cards
* Odds & Evens – Two teams
according to the value of cards (Face
cards have the values Jack-11,
Queen – 12, and King – 13)
* Suits – Four teams (Spades,
Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs)
* Call out any number and they
must form groups that add up to
that number.
* BlackJack – Add up to 21
* Poker Hands – Groups of 5 cards
(Which group has the highest
hand?)

- Four of a Kind – All four cards of
each number (groups of four)
- Straight Flush – 5 Cards Grouped
by Colors and lined up according to
number.
- Full House – 3 of one card and
two of another
- 3 of a kind – 3 cards of same
number, 2 additional cards
- 4 of a kind – 4 cards of same
number, 1 additional card
- Straight – 5 cards in order
- Flush – 5 cards of the same color
- Two Pairs – 2 sets of two plus
another card

Games using Playing Cards
Build a Tower – Give groups of
youth a deck or two of playing
cards, inside a box, and ask them
to build the tallest tower in a given
period of time. Do not say it is a
competition between groups. Just
that in X minutes the tallest tower
wins. The tallest tower could
actually be built when they put all
their resources together. What
lessons can we learn from this?

Card elimination – When you
call out specific groupings of
cards (or poker hands), The
youth must scramble to form
them. If groups do not meet the
specified criteria or are the last
group to form, they are
eliminated from the game. The
last remaining group is the
winner.

Card Identity – Ask students to
pick cards from the deck that
represent something about
themselves. These
representations can be as
shallow or deep as the students’
imaginations. Have youth mingle
and share with one another their
names and the cards they have
chosen and why. One might
choose a two because they have
“2 parents” or “two feet” etc.
Another student might choose an
ace because they strive to “be an
‘ace’ at everything they do… The
opportunities are limitless.

Card Mixer – Before the
activity, write a question on
each card to be shared when
the youth are mixing together.
(e.g. what is your favorite ice
cream, most embarrassing
moment, favorite musician,
favorite scripture, etc.) Match
these questions to a future
discussion!

Go Fish! – 5 cards are dealt to
each player. In turn, players ask
another player for his/her cards
of a specific rank. (Example:
“Ken, do you have threes?”) A
player may only ask for a card
of which he already holds at
least 1 card. The person asked
must hand over all cards of that
rank. If the call was successful,
the player has another turn.

But if the player asked has no
cards of that rank, he says “Go
fish”, and the asking player
draws the top card from the
deck and it’s the next player’s
turn. When a player has all 4
cards of a rank they are placed
face up on the table. The game
ends when all sets are formed,
and the player with the most
cards wins.

Playing Card Line-up – Instruct
the youth to not peek at their
cards, then pass out one playing
card to each member of the
group (you may need a few decks
…). On your signal, each youth
places the card on their forehead
so that others can see the card.
Without talking, all youth then
group by suit, and then in
numerical order (Is Ace high or
low? )

Instead of placing them on their
forehead where they can fall
off, you can also punch a hole in
each card and hand them on a
strong around the youth’s necks
so that it hangs in the back
where they cannot see it but
others can. What worked or
didn’t? Who were the leaders?
What are some lessons?

Stratego – Play a variation of
“stratego” between two teams.
Remove cards from the deck so
that there is 1-ace, 2-two’s, 3
three’s, etc. Designate jokers as
bombs. Leave only one king. The
king can be captured by any card.
Use the jack with the sword to
his head as the spy. Play the
game just as you would
“stratego”, but have teams send
representatives to a person on
the opposing team to do battle.

Do not reveal the card numbers
to teams, but merely who is the
victor of the battle. Those who
lose battle cannot reveal the
victors total to their teams and
are removed to a graveyard
area. First team to kill the king
wins.

Team Sit – Give each team a suit
of cards, shuffled and one chair.
On your signal, players look at
their cards and without talking
the ace takes the chair. 2 sits on
their knees. 3 sits on the next
person’s knees. First team to sit
in a line wins.

Ten – Remove 10s and all face
cards. Have students choose a
partner whose card added to
theirs will result in a sum of
10… the combinations are
numerous (1-9, 2-8, 3-7, 4-6, 5-
5) Last couple to pair up is
eliminated. Blindly exchange
cards with at least 3 people
then have then go again ,
repeating until you have a
winner.

A Card Game and a Lesson
Play a game of “I Doubt It” it with
the cards.
1. Divide into 2 to 4 teams.
2. In this game the objective is
to be the first team to discard
all of their cards. The team
who goes first must discard
their aces face down, the
second two’s, third, three’s…
through King’s. Each time play
comes back to the team, a
new player must place the
cards down, rotating through
team members.

3. As the team places the cards
down they must announce
the quantity of cards being
played (i.e. 2 aces, 1 two, 3
threes, 1 jack, 4 queens, etc.)
If a team doesn’t have a card
of the value they are
supposed to play, then they
must bluff.
4. A team may also bluff at any
time by including additional
cards of another value in
with the cards of the correct
value they are playing. For
example a person may only
have two aces, but includes
a six and calls out “three
aces.”

5. At any time another team
may shout “I doubt it.” The
team that just played cards
must turn them over and
reveal them. If the revealed
cards were a bluff and not
100% what they were
claimed to be, the team
picks up the entire discard
pile. If they were telling the
truth, then the team who
yelled “I doubt it” must pick
up the entire discard pile.
6. The game continues until
one team runs out of cards

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Discussion
• What is the primary objective
of the card game “I doubt it”?
What are some of our
objectives in life? What does
winning mean to you?
• What type of person is best at
this game? Did anyone in this
game get a reputation for
dishonesty or for integrity?
What reputation do you have
with others? How did you get
that reputation?

• What elements of this game
caused you to lie, misrepresent
the truth, or stretch the truth?
What things tempt you to be
less than honest in real life?
What things tempt you to act
against your normal character?
• Are you known for your
honesty, for your integrity?
What actions in life build /
destroy a person’s character /
reputation? Why is a good
reputation important? How
does our reputation affect how
others respond to us?
• Is TRUTH flexible? Why or why
not? Is there such a thing as
absolute truth? Why or why
not?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL
INTEGRITY: How often in life do
we try to gain – benefit by either
stretching the truth or by an
outright lie? How many times do
we sacrifice honesty and
integrity to get ahead of others
in the game of life? While in this
game we might get away with it
do people get away with it in
life? Is integrity really
important? Honesty?

Why is integrity important to God?
(1 Kings 9:4, 1 Chronicles 29:17,
Job 2:2-4, Titus 2:7, Proverbs 10:9)
Instances of integrity in the Bible:
• Jacob, in the care of Laban’s
property (Genesis 31:39)
• Joseph, in resisting Potiphar’s
wife (Genesis 39:8-12, 40:15)
• Moses, took nothing from the
Israelites for his services
(Numbers 16:15)
• Samuel, in took nothing from
the people for his services (1
Samuel 12:4)

• David, in self-reproach for
the cutting of Saul’s robe (1
Samuel 24:5)
• Daniel, in staying pure and
upright (Daniel 1:8-20;
Daniel 6:4)
• Nathanael, in whom was
no guile (John 1:47)
• Peter, when offered money
by Simon Magus (Acts
8:18-23)

DOUBTS: All of us have doubts at
one time or another, but that
doesn’t mean we give up. We make
choices the best we can not
knowing what the next card in life
holds for us.
What are some of your doubts
related to the Bible and your faith?
Divided the youth into groups to
write a short monologues of doubts
that the following Biblical
characters might have had:
• The disciples when caught on
the sea in storm (Mark 4:26-
40)
• Noah when he was asked to
build the ark (Genesis 6,7)

• Abraham when asked to
sacrifice Isaac (Genesis
22:1-10)
• Moses when God asked him
to go to Pharoah (Ex. 4:1-
13)
• David when he faced
Goliath (I Samuel 17,18)
• Daniel when he was thrown
to the lion’s den (Daniel 6)

1. What options did the above
people have in responding to
their doubts? Why do you
think they acted as they did?
2. How could you rewrite the
above passages as modern
situations which might create
similar doubts.
3. What was the time of greatest
doubt in your life, and why?
Was it similar to any of the
characters above?
4. How are your doubts different
or similar? Explain.

MAKE IT PERSONAL
Make a commitment to live a life
of integrity, to face your doubts
and keep playing the game
regardless of the cards you have
been dealt in life!

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
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need to know when planning your very own
object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed
object lesson ideas and another 200 object
lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms
and Names / Descriptions of God.
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Object Lesson - Card Sharks – Playing the Hand You Are Dealt in Life

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