Teaching Kids

Teaching a child a board game is the same job as teaching any newcomer, with one big difference: kids do not pretend. An adult who is lost will nod and smile. A child who is lost will slide off the chair, start building a tower out of the pieces, or announce that this is boring. That honesty is a gift. You find out right away when the teach is not working.

This lesson gives you practical rules of thumb by age. They are starting points, not science. Every child is different, and the child at your table matters more than any number on a box.

Read the box age as a floor

Publishers print a minimum age on every game. Treat it as a floor, not a target. A game marked 8 and up is a fair bet for an eight-year-old who likes games, and a stretch for a six-year-old.

Then watch. Can the child sit through a turn that is not theirs? Do they want to win, or just to move pieces? Do they read? Your answers matter more than the birthday.

Rules of thumb by age

Under 8: shorten, hand over the pieces, and play together. Keep games short, and stop while they are still having fun, not when the box says it is over. Let them move every piece they can: drawing, placing, and counting are half the fun. Cooperative games, where everyone plays against the game, help a lot here, because nobody has to lose to a grown-up. Drop rules freely. The full game can wait for next time.

8 to 12: full rules, open hands. Many kids in this range can handle the real rules of a family game. The fix is the same one this program uses for any newcomer: play the first game with cards and goals face up, so you can help them see their options without choosing for them. Help with the board, not the decisions.

Teens: treat them as adults. Teach them exactly as you would teach a grown newcomer. Talking down is the fastest way to lose a teenager. Many will enjoy the same strategy games you do, and some will beat you by the third play.

Across all ages, the program’s numbers still apply: a short teach, a good move early, and nobody out of the game before it ends. For losing well, see our article for parents of a kid who hates losing.

A worked example: two kids, two games

A first game with a six-year-old. Carcassonne says 7 and up on the box, so for a six-year-old, start a step lower. Z-Man Games makes a version called My First Carcassonne, for ages 4 and up, which drops the point counting: players race to place all their pieces instead. It keeps the best part of the full game, matching tiles to build a map together, and leaves out the scoring arithmetic.

Teach it in under a minute: “We take turns adding a tile. It has to match. Can you find where yours fits?” Let the child hold the stack and draw for everyone. If they lose interest before the end, stop and call it a great map. When they are ready, move up to the full game, and play the first one without farmers, as the rulebook suggests for new players.

If your family already has Ticket to Ride, Days of Wonder also makes a kids’ edition for ages 6 and up.

Ticket to Ride with a ten-year-old. The box for Ticket to Ride says 8 and up, so a ten-year-old can play the full game. Teach the three choices on a turn: draw train cards, claim a route, or draw tickets. Then play the first game with everyone’s tickets face up. Tickets are the hard part for new players, since each one you keep and do not finish takes points away at the end. With tickets in the open, you can point at the map: “Your two cities are here and here. What’s in between?” That is help with the map, not the decision.

After the first game, let them choose: keep tickets open next time, or play them secret like the grown-ups. Most kids pick secret. It is their first step up the ladder.

The one thing kids teach you

Kids give the clearest feedback any teacher will get. If a child is bored, your teach was too long. If they are lost, you said too much at once. If they want to play again, you did it right. The Second Game is the score here too, and kids are the quickest to tell you whether you earned it.