Deal Me In

Programming Note: We will be headed out of town for a bit a spring break fun, so I will not post tomorrow. See you Saturday!

Yesterday I posted about the board games that we are using to stave off boredom over our rainy spring break stay-cation.  In today’s post I want to share with you some of Kindergarten Kiddos favorite card games.

First up: Old Maid

For some reason this card game never fails to delight Kiddo. 

Next at bat:  Go Fish

Another classic game that I remember from my own childhood. 

Last, but not least: Crazy Eights

All of these card games (and yesterday’s board games) are perfect for the 4-6 year old set for a few key reasons:

1. They require little or no reading
2. The rules are easy to learn and to follow
3. They are games of chance, requiring almost no strategy, meaning your Kiddo can beat your socks off fair and square.

A word about chance:  One of the great lessons I’ve learned in life is the lesson of letting kids lose. 

A few years ago I was playing a card game with my highly competitive niece (then about 5 years old) and her grandmother.  Luck was not on my niece’s side that evening, and as the game drew towards its inevitable end, my niece grew more and more distressed (read: maudlin) over the fact that she was going to lose. 

I started manipulating the game so that the odds would be in my niece’s favor and was annoyed when I realized that her grandmother was not; instead, she continued calmly playing her cards until she delivered the final, devastating blow.

While my niece melted into histrionics over the game, her grandmother gently stroked her back and said, calmly but firmly,

“I know you're disappointed, but you don’t always get to win.  Some things are out of our control and you have to play the cards you’ve been dealt, even if they’re not the cards you want.”

Wow.  She was right. I’ve never forgotten that card game and the urge I had to “rescue” my niece from the uncomfortable feeling of losing.  But at what cost? 

See, I think that this is where games, like books, let us experience (in a small way) the bigger emotions of life.  We feel the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, the heady pleasures of luck, and the bitterness of having to play out a bad hand.

Who knew so much could happen during a simple card game?