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How to Make Your Own Dutch Blitz Game

Carriages decorate the backs of
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Act quickly while keeping an eye on your competition in the fast-past party card game “Dutch Blitz.” This game was created by Werner Ernst George Muller, a German immigrant optometrist who wanted to help his children learn about numbers and colors. “Dutch Blitz” spread throughout Pennsylvania and can now be purchased in eight countries. If you want a customized version of the game or can’t find the game where you live, make your own set of “Dutch Blitz” cards to play with at home.

Open an index card template in Microsoft Word to design your “Dutch Blitz” cards. Use a template for printing three index cards per page if using Avery 5388 index cards or a similar page with three index cards per page. Change the text layout so your text will appear sideways.

Insert a small picture of a Dutch boy into each corner of your first index card. Copy the index card and paste it into the space for the next card. Create a total of 80 index cards with the Dutch boy pictures.

Repeat the steps above using a Dutch girl picture. Create 80 cards using the pictures of the Dutch girl.

Change the font color to blue. Insert the number “1” on the right and left sides of the first card with the Dutch boy pictures. The numbers should be facing sideways as you look at them on the screen.

Continue numbering the next nine cards in sequence, so you have cards numbered one through 10 in blue font. Repeat until you have four sets of identical cards numbered one through 10. Change the font color to red and repeat to make four set of 10 cards numbered in red font.

Change the font color to green and create four sets of cards numbered one through 10 on the first 40 Dutch girl cards. Repeat to number the final 40 Dutch girl cards in yellow font.

Insert a picture into the center of each card. In the official game, the design is four colored hearts in a circle, but you can create your own design. Make the center design to match the color of the number on each card to reinforce the color of the card. For example, if you want to use a picture of a single heart, use a red heart on the cards with red numbers, a blue heart on the cards with blue numbers, and so on.

Create 10 new index cards in Microsoft Word with a single picture of a carriage. Repeat to make 10 cards each with pump, pail and plow pictures. Make three more sets of 40 cards containing 10 cards of each design in order.

Print out the 160 numbered index cards with the Dutch boy and girl pictures. Turn the cards over and print the 160 carriage, pump, pail and plow cards to design the backs of the cards. You should have four decks of 40 cards each, with cards number one through 10 for each color included in each deck, and each deck containing a different design on the back.

Separate the individual index cards to create oversize decks of "Dutch Blitz" cards. Play the game using the index cards in place of the standard game deck.

Tip

Draw out the cards by hand if you don't have access to a printer, or prefer to use individual index cards. Try changing the pictures to create a more custom deck, as long as your cards have designs in the same pattern and numbers as the original game. Download a free index card template from the Avery website if you don't have one on your computer.

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