Jose Raez

LEI 4724
Title: House of Cards
Source: Stumbo, N. (1999). Intervention activities for at-risk youth. State College, PA: Venture
Pub.
Equipment Needed: decks of playing cards
Activity Description:
Accommodates small groups
Participants will be divided into three equal groups that will receive one deck of cards each. Each
deck is then divided evenly among the group members. Group members are then to build a one
level house of cards. Each member will place a single card per turn. After the first level is
complete, a second level house will be built. Each team should then continue building until all of
their cards have been used.
Discussion Questions:
What kind of skills had to be used to make this activity successful? What teamwork skills
worked? What teamwork skills didnt work? Was the contribution by each member equal? How
did you decide where to place the cards? What would you do differently next time?
Leadership Considerations:
Facilitator should provide an example of a multi-level house in order to demonstrate that it is
possible to build. Facilitator should distance the teams so that no accidents occur. Facilitator
should walk around and supervise all three of the groups, but should not interfere with the
decision making of each group.
Upper limb loss: Individuals who have upper limb loss can still participate in this activity. The
individual may be paired with someone who has use of their arms and hands, and can dictate
where the card should go, while the partner can then execute the command. The same can be
done with individuals who have spinal cord injuries and as a result lose their fine motor control
necessary to build a house of cards.
Down syndrome: These individuals will exhibit intellectual disabilities, so the game can be
simplified in order to make it easier to understand. Instead of building a multilevel house, the
individual can build a single level house. Alternatively, if the cards are too unstable, the
facilitator may provide the individual with Down syndrome materials that would facilitate the
stacking. For example, they can use dominoes, mega blocks, etc.