Educational Gaming

It's been nearly a year since we first talked about letting The Boy play Dungeons and Dragons. In that time it has pretty much taken over the kids' lives. And not just The Boy, everyone except Pookie loves to play. They print character sheets by the dozen, then spend hours filling them in to get exactly the character they want. They've taken entire afternoons to make maps, tweak storylines and discuss the pros and cons of being a Ranger vs. a Wizard, or an Elf vs. a Tiefling.



I worried at first. Did they really need another violent game to play? They're wild enough without it. But then they started to play and I saw just how much they enjoy it and how much they're learning from it. Midge spends hours copying the words in the books and drawing the weapons and supplies pictured in the books. Pibb reads through the books endlessly (I'm fairly certain he's read all the D & D books we own, repeatedly) and then uses what he's learned to design characters and quests. Scooter spends most of her playing time working on making maps. She's very interested in cartography and loves to make maps with extensive legends and lots of traps or hidden doors.

And while they may not play by any officially sanctioned rules, they do play quite a bit. So many times I've listened from the next room while The Boy and Pibb do the dinner dishes and talk about armor classes or defensive rolls.

I know it's not for everyone and that some people think it's too violent or dangerous, but for our family, it's fun and educational. And that makes it a keeper.