Looney Labs Educators Mailing list Archive

Re: [Edu] Aquarius rules for 3 year olds

  • From"William M. Reed" <wreed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • DateSun, 10 May 2009 14:19:05 -0400
I missed most of this thread, so I apologize if I'm repeating.

The basic mechanic of the game, to me, is the matching of like sides. It's similar to dominoes in that respect. So, that's the core, in my opinion.

If I were to play this with ,6 yr olds again (my daughters are 9 and 13) I would keep secret goals, drop the action cards, and draw and play the game as written otherwise. Over repeated playing, as the child became proficient with playing the basic game, I would add in the change goals action card. If that's the only action card, most preschoolers can learn what it means without having to read.

The only other change we ever played was to have our "hands" face up on the table, so we didn't have to hold them. That also let me guide my daughters' strategy if they needed help. And, I could explain my thinking as I played my cards. We were never too concerned with the competition.

If it were me, I'd add in action cards over repeated playing as I felt the child could handle it.


Bill

William M. Reed
St. Joseph Montessori School
933 Hamlet St.
Columbus, OH  43201
614-291-8601
wreed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On May 10, 2009, at 12:46 PM, Kristin Looney wrote:

David wrote:

I like Lydia's rules, but they look daunting to my eye for most parents
of kids that young.

We definitely don't want something that looks daunting to parents!

We want a really simple rule set that can be used when playing the
game with younger kids than the recommended ages 6-adult.


Kimberly wrote:

I do pretty much what Lydia does.
P.S.- we don't do this part though:

* Players take turns drawing a card from the top of the pile. If the
player has a card that matches his or her goal the player can begin to make a chain. If the card chosen doesn't have a match it is set it aside. If player's goal is not part of the first card placed on the table, that player has to wait until another card from another player is connected to
begin play.

everyone just plays whatever card matches anything that's laid already.
(with a starter card from the top of the pile)


Ok, so if we take out the complexity of that step this might work then.

Kimberly also wrote:

I bet the game could also be made into a GoFish type of game (sans action & goal cards). Collecting 4-6 cards with the same picture, then laying
them out with like pictures touching.


I would like for our simpler version in the rules to be a simpler version of the real game - so that kids who learn the simple version can move into the full game as they get older by adding in more of the game - rather than
it being a completely different game you can play with the cards.


Does anyone else have any thoughts on how we should pitch the idea of
playing Aquarius with younger children?

Thank you David and Kimberly for your input and ideas!

-Kristin

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