Counting card game and method of playing

Abstract

This counting card game adds a teaching component to the game of Trash. But instead of a standard deck of 52 with numerical and face cards, it uses numbered cards, each with an Arabic numeral and its corresponding spelling beneath. There are also Wild Cards, Trash Cards and score-keeping Winner cards. This game, and method of playing it, can have expansion packs beyond the basic (1 through 10) set and/or foreign language equivalents.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A card game for helping to teach individuals how to count and spell, a first playing deck for said card game comprising:
 (a) at least four sets of cards for each pair of game players, each set containing ten consecutively numbered cards, each card containing an Arabic numeral and a corresponding spelling for the numeral,   (b) at least six Trash cards which, when drawn or exposed, causes a player to end his or her turn; and   (c) at least four Wild Cards, any of which allows a player to choose against which of his or her cards, including an already played card, to continue playing his or her turn in a round of the game.   
     
     
         2 . The card game of  claim 1  wherein said playing deck further comprises:
 (d) a plurality of Winner cards for awarding to the player who wins enough rounds to win a game. 
 
     
     
         3 . The card game of  claim 1  which starts with a first round in which each player is dealt ten cards face down in one row of ten cards, or two rows of five (a first row consisting of playing slots 1 through 5 and a second row, playing slots 6 through 10 below the first row) with a remainder of cards kept in an undealt deck, a first player then draws a top card from the undealt deck and: (a) if a numeral, the first player removes the face down card corresponding to the numeral in his or her playing slot and replaces it with the drawn numeral card before continuing his or her turn by flipping over the recently removed card and using it to remove and replace the face down card in the playing slot corresponding to the numeral on the recently removed card until his or her turn of removing and replacing cards has ended by either revealing a Trash card or having no other playing slots with which to remove and replace additional cards; (b) if a Trash card, the first player ends his or her turn and the second player proceeds to draw the top card from the undealt deck; and (c) if a Wild card, the first player can use the Wild card for any card in his or her playing slot for continuing his or her turn. 
     
     
         1 . The card game of  claim 1  wherein each member of the ten members to one of the four sets of cards includes a matching symbol, color or font. 
     
     
         2 . The card game of  claim 4  wherein each member of the ten members to one of the four sets of cards includes a symbol corresponding to a playing suit selected from the group consisting of: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. 
     
     
         3 . The card game of  claim 1 , which includes eight Trash cards. 
     
     
         4 . The card game of  claim 1  wherein the first playing deck is supplemented with a second playing deck for every pair of additional players after the first two players. 
     
     
         5 . The card game of  claim 1  wherein the at least four sets of ten consecutively numbered cards may be replaced by or supplemented with at least four sets of ten additional consecutively numbered cards in a series of ten consecutive numbers after the first ten numbers or in a series of ten consecutive numbers unrelated to the first ten numbers. 
     
     
         9 . The card game of  claim 1 , which can be used to teach mathematical sequencing including prime numbers, odd numbers, even numbers and multiples of a number. 
     
     
         10 . The card game of  claim 1  wherein each numbered card includes at least one language indicator and a foreign language spelling for the numeral on that card. 
     
     
         11 . The card game of  claim 10  wherein the foreign language is selected from the group consisting of Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Greek and Italian. 
     
     
         12 . An expandable set of cards for playing a common game of “Trash” to improve the counting and spelling skills of young children or foreign speaking adults, said expandable set of cards comprising:
 at least four sets of ten cards each for every two players of the game, each set having a common symbol or color identifier and numbered for ten consecutive numerals with each card of the set having one Arabic numeral and at least one word spelling for that numeral; 
 at least six “Trash” cards per set, each of said Trash cards causing cause a player to lose his or her turn when flipped over from a set of cards originally dealt to a player or drawn from a deck of remaining cards; 
 at least four Wild Cards, each of which allows a player to play on or replace any card from his or her set of originally dealt cards; and 
 a plurality of Winner cards, each of said cards being given to the player who completes enough rounds of “Trash” to win a game. 
 
     
     
         1 . The expandable set of cards of  claim 12  wherein the first set of ten cards may be replaced by or supplemented with four or more sets of ten consecutively numbered cards, which replacement or supplemental sets of cards may sequentially follow the first set of ten cards or be unrelated thereto. 
     
     
         14 . The expandable set of cards of  claim 12 , which can be used to teach mathematical sequencing including prime numbers, odd numbers, even numbers and multiples of a number. 
     
     
         15 . The expandable set of cards of  claim 12  wherein each numbered card includes a language indicator and a foreign language spelling for the numeral. 
     
     
         16 . A method for playing a card game to teach counting and spelling skills, said method comprising:
 (a) providing a first deck of at least fifty cards for at least two players, said first deck having: (i) at least four sets of ten cards, each set having a common symbol or color identifier and numbered for ten consecutive numerals with one Arabic numeral and a word spelling for that numeral, (ii) a plurality of Trash cards which cause a player to lose their turn when flipped over or drawn; (iii) a plurality of Wild Cards, each of which allows a player to replace a card from their originally dealt cards; and (iv) a plurality of Winner cards, at least one card awarded to each player who completes enough rounds to win a game hereunder;   (b) dealing to each player, in an alternating manner, cards from the deck, face down, until each player has one row of ten, or 2 rows of five cards in front of them;   (c) creating a draw down deck from the remaining undealt cards;   (d) commencing a round of play with a first player taking a top card from the drawdown deck: (i) if that card is a numeral, the player places that numeral card, face up, in a comparable slot location in the player's original one row of ten, or two rows of five, before taking the replaced, face down card and flipping it over to see whether it can be played in another of the player's originally dealt card slots for continuing his or her turn or, if not, then turn of the game passes to the next player; (ii) if any drawn or flipped card is a Trash card, the player loses the remainder of his or her turn; and (iii) if any drawn or flipped card is a Wild Card, that player can choose which of the remaining face down cards to replace with the Wild Card; play for a round of the game continuing until one player has replaced over all ten of his or her originally dealt cards; and   (e) after completion of a round, the players reviewing the numeral and word spelling on the winning hand of cards.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  which repeats with a second round in which one less card is dealt, face down, to the player who won the previous round. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  in which card dealing numbers continue to decrease to the previous round winning player until one player has only one dealt card and replaces that dealt card in the last round of play. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the player who has won a sufficient number of rounds receives a Winner card for winning the game. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein each numbered card includes at least one language indicator and a foreign language spelling for the numeral.