2 simple family games you should try

Finding a game that the whole family will enjoy can be a challenge. Here are two simple games you should try.

A game for two children sitting in the back of a car, travelling through the countryside.

• Each player looks out of the window on their own side of the road.
• The aim is to spot various animals in fields on your own side, and so amass points.
• Pigs and cows score three points, sheep one each (make a fair guess if you spot a flock of them), other animals one each.
• There are no points awarded for birds or humans.
• Horses earn a player minus 10 points, but you cannot go below zero.
• 10 points are awarded for a cat or dog looking out of a house or car window.
• The first player to reach 50 points wins. Players and their parents may invent their own house rules — awarding points for men with beards, for example, or baby strollers — but appoint a judge to avoid arguments.

Whist has long been one of the most popular card games the world over. It's simple and fun to play, and success depends on a pleasing combination of luck and judgment.

• Whist is a game for four people who play in pairs to win the highest number of "tricks."
• Each player cuts the deck of 52 cards (ace ranks high), with the two highest scorers playing the lowest scorers. Partners sit opposite each other.
• The deck is cut again and the highest scorer is the first dealer. They then deal the cards one at a time until each player has 13.
• The last card dealt is shown before going into the dealer's hand and this determines which suit is trumps (the highest scoring).

Players may not comment on their hands, and partners may not signal to each other.

1. The player on the dealer's left starts by laying down any card.
2. Other players must follow suit if they can. If they can't, they can lay down a card from the trump suit or discard a low-scoring card of any suit. The highest of four same-suit cards wins the trick. If trumps are played, the highest trump wins the trick. Even low-ranking trump cards beat cards of a different suit. The winner of each trick starts the next.
3. When 13 tricks have been played, the pair who won more tricks scores one point for each trick they won in excess of six. The first partners to score five win. If neither pair has reached five, there's another deal. Conventionally, a second deck is waiting, ready shuffled.

Why not give these fun games a try? With these easy instructions, keeping your whole family entertained has never been easier!