Gaming with Kids: Jeff Dougan

Gaming with Kids is an interview series where I talk with folks about gaming with their children. This first installment is an interview with Jeff Dougan.

My name’s Jeff Dougan. My current occupation is in flux, but I’m a Ph.D. scientist who’s really a teacher at heart. (I’m between permanent positions after taking time off following the birth of the Munchkin, now almost 2.) My wife is a non-gamer. I have 2 kids, only one of whom is old enough to play games. Online, I refer to them as the Grasshopper (boy, age almost 6) and the Munchkin (girl, age almost 2). The Grasshopper is definitely showing signs of inheriting my love of games.

I happen to write a (mostly) monthly column about playing games with kids for www.chambanamoms.com, a local parenting blog. This came about because my local library has a “hobby game” collection that began to circulate last summer. Writing the column both helps the library get some publicity for its collection and lets me share my love of games with the local community. A (mostly) complete index of my columns to date can be found at http://www.chambanamoms.com/tag/family-game-night/

I think we picked up copies of Candyland and Chutes & Ladders shortly after the Grasshopper turned 3. (Incidentally, Target sells “bookcase” editions of these and some others that I highly recommend.) The summer before the Munchkin was born, he kind of got introduced to Coloretto while we were visiting my parents as part of a baby shower for my sister. I think it was later that same summer that I introduced him to a very streamlined version of Carcassonne. We started to do even more the summer after the Munchkin was born, and it has really taken off since I got the chance to start occasionally attending my local library’s 2nd Saturday Game Day.

Right now, it’s a chance for me to get get some time with the Grasshopper that’s “his time.” As the Munchkin gets older, I hope to be able to include her, as well… although with the age difference between them, it might be a while before we get to things we can really all play and enjoy together. As I highlight in the columns I write, gaming with the Grasshopper helps him learn skills like taking turns, cooperation, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, and losing graciously. As he gets older, I’d like to include some kid-friendly RPGs in the mix should his interests incline that direction — good for math, creativity, linguistic skills, in addition to everything else already mentioned. I’m sure somebody else you interview will plug NewbieDM’s RPGKids. Also worthy of mention are the somewhat older games The Princes’ Kingdom and Fuzzy Adventures (or its 4-color variant Fuzzy Heroes).

The current favorites are probably Battleball (an out-of-print minis and dicefest from Hasbro that mimics American football), Forbidden Island, Battleship (even though my copy is missing a couple of the boats) and Pente.

The Grasshopper doesn’t do much computer gaming that doesn’t tie to a PBS Kids show. I’m pretty sure that when he reaches that age, this will be a “no First Person Shooter” household. Although I think he could handle playing Fearsome Floors, I’m not ready for the cartoon gore in the graphic design.

I try to take the stress out. Even when we’re playing a game that isn’t cooperative, I’ll give suggestions — although I try to make it clear he can always do whatever he wants (within the rules). I think the biggest thing for him right now is that playing games is something he gets to share with me that his sister doesn’t get to do. (That, and he likes rolling dice. Any time I stop by Free RPG Day events, I’ll grab a giveaway die for him and a giveaway die for me. He’s got almost a full set of polyhedral dice already. I know one other kid at his school for whom that /might/ be true, and I secretly think it’s pretty cool.)