Trading cards have shaped popular culture for over a century, and their appeal remains strong even as digital activities dominate our lives.
As education evolves, trading cards stand out as tools that bridge analog play with the cognitive demands of the digital age.
The hobby naturally develops executive function by helping kids plan, organize and manage resources. It also creates organic opportunities to practice math and reading comprehension.
According to recent research, not only do trading cards tap into reward systems like those found in digital experiences — intermittent reinforcement and variable outcomes — they also improve learning outcomes.
This is especially vital now, as school systems adapt to students who are raised constantly in front of screens. We have seen how digital oversaturation affects learning: shortened attention spans, information fatigue, lower tolerance for complex tasks and increased demand for instant gratification.
Trading card-related educational activities can undo some of those harms as they incentivizes patience, critical thinking and collaboration with peers.
Analysis shows that trading cards serve as valuable learning artifacts that support the skills necessary to thrive in STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — classrooms. When integrated within digital learning environments, trading cards can enhance academic outcomes by supporting literacy and content understanding, cognitive and conceptual processing and even multimodal reasoning, a type of cross-format thinking that allows students to make sense of information coming from different sources at once.
Trading cards help to put critical thinking and problem-solving into practice. So not only are students engaging with compelling card templates that help them synthesize complex information, but they’re also simultaneously revealing the relationships within complex systems.
Card collecting’s appeal among young students can be used as an effective tool outside the classroom as well, in summer programs, to help kids learn executive functioning skills and return in the fall well prepared to tackle their curriculum.
Such programs have already been implemented this year through after-school programs and clubs.
At McDonough Middle School in Hartford, Connecticut, a volunteer leads a weekly after-school session in which students learn to assess card values, understand market dynamics and think like young entrepreneurs.
Kenowa Hills Middle School in Michigan reports that card-focused clubs have grown from a handful of students to nearly 50 participants, with school officials saying they have seen measurable gains in social skill-building among students.
Using card-based games as a serious learning medium isn’t a new concept. Many of us can remember the flashcards we used to quiz ourselves while studying for an exam.
Some others can also recall collecting trading cards and the joy of holding them. For some, the childhood hobby helped forge a path to success. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers; business magnate Carlos Slim, formerly the richest man in the world; and seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady, all point to their experiences with trading cards as a formative step in their executive function.
They don’t have to be the only ones holding the cards.
Innovative solutions like trading cards are the vehicle students need for proper academic development, connecting their engagement needs to the critical analog and physical play they also need to prioritize.
The positive cognitive experiences we’re witnessing across generations make it clear that trading cards play a significant role in building the skills critical for learning.
Rethinking what counts as a legitimate learning tool is long overdue. Bring trading cards into extracurricular offerings and into lesson plans. Stack the deck in the students’ favor.
Tisha Lewis Ellison is an associate professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia.