During these past few winter months, we have loved playing board games and all kinds of card games. Our top favorite are: Backgammon, Rummikub, Memory matching, a good old fashion card game of War. And thanks to my sister in law for bringing back the all time beloved Spit game. If your an 80s or 90s kid you might remember how to play this intense game of spit. If not here is a quick refresher on how to play.
All cards are dealt evenly. Players create five piles of cards face down. Each pile has one additional card, from one to five cards. The top card on each pile is dealt face up. Other cards form the player’s deck.
Each player takes one card from their deck and places it face down into the middle to form a ‘spit’ pile. Both players say “spit” and turn over the card. Players start adding cards to the ‘spit’ piles at the same time.
Players try to place a card that is one higher or one lower than the cards on either ‘spit’ pile e.g. 3 onto the 4. They can use any face up card in their piles.
Players try to play as many cards as possible onto the two ‘spit’ piles. When neither player can play, both players call “spit”.
If a player has matching cards on their piles they can place one on top of each other e.g. 7♣️ on 7♥️. They then turn over the first face down card.
When one player has no more cards left in their piles, both players call “spit” and slap a pile.
Players take the pile they have slapped first and add them to their deck along with any cards left in their piles.
The A can be played as a high or low card, e.g. after playing a 2 or K there is the option to play an A.
One of my favorite books as a young child was a book titled Chicken Soup with Rice, by Maurice Sendak. My kindergarten or 1st grade teacher would read it to us and I absolutely loved it. There was a poem for each of the month. And whether it was January, February, June or July, every month was perfect for Chicken Soup with Rice! My favorite as a child was probably the months of June or July because that meant summer time and no school. But now that I’m older, I always enjoy it when I get to read the months of January and February. These months are after the holiday hussle and bustle and they are quieter and less rushed. The days are short and the nights are long. Funny how things change.
