There has been a lot of heavy stuff in my life lately. And that has spilled over to a lot of heavy stuff on the blog. So, today I want to share something light and fun. This weekend Thaddeus made up new rules for playing Candyland and I want to share them with you all.

Set the board up as you normally would. Then instead of everyone drawing cards and moving to the color they drew, you draw all the cards at once and the child gets to pick what player gets what card. Thaddeus would draw three cards and then pick which card I got, which card Sage got, and which card he got.

This way of playing the game doesn’t do much to teach the child turn taking, but it does help teach strategy, thinking ahead, and consequences. Thaddeus had to think, “if I give the blue card to mom what happens?” and then had to think again “If I give the blue card to myself what happens?” This way of playing the game caused him to use critical thinking skills. It took a game that is typically about nothing but chance and added an element of control to it.

I will admit that it made the game less fun for the other participants (namely me), but I felt the benefit of having Thaddeus think this way was worth it. I think next time perhaps I would have us take turns getting to draw all the cards and pick who got what card. This would make it more interesting for all of the players and would incorporate turn taking into these new rules.

Well, there you have it a simple way to modify a game you already have into a new game to teach new skills.

Enjoy some play time with your kids today!

Rejoicing in the journey, Bethany