Playing D&D with kids is fun
I recently played a couple of D&D games with a group of five adults and one 9-year-old. The first thing I’ve learned is that it’s fun to play with kids. They challenge our DM skills in unique and unexpected ways and they often bring a lot of creativity to the table. To make the most of playing with a mixed group which includes kids, there are a few things to pay attention to, and a few things we can do to accommodate our youngest players.
How is playing D&D with young players different?
Shorter attention span
Kids often have a shorter attention span. Whereas adults are used to sitting and listening for hours, young players often get distracted after an hour or less. During the game, we notice this when their eyes (and sometimes their bodies) start to wander away from the table, they sink low in their chairs, and they start conversations about many topics, except for the game.
Unexpected approaches
Within the game, however, young players will often come up with even more unexpected solutions to problems than adult players. The creativity of a 9-year-old is not tainted too much by rationality, yet. Anything seems possible. Tame the dragon wyrmling instead of killing it. Slide down the mountainside on your belly instead of climbing. Bribe the guards with silly trinkets instead of coin. When we play with kids, we can try to embrace this out-of-the-box thinking and the especially unique and creative approaches to situations.
Brutal honesty
In addition to creativity, young players can also be brutally (but sometimes helpfully) honest. A 9-year-old might outright tell us when a scene gets boring. Maybe it is time to wrap it up and move on to the next encounter then. Or, less helpfully, young players might not hold back with commentary on the actions of other characters. When the honesty becomes hurtful, for example if a player is called out as “stupid,” it’s time for us to intervene.
Adult content
Lastly, when we’re playing with young players, we need to pay special attention to “adult content” in our game. It’s best to address this in a session zero so that all players become aware of the G-rated style of the game, and off-limit themes and content. We want to create a gaming environment in which our youngest players can explore freely and safely.
How to create a fun game for kids and adults
Get everyone on board
The first thing we can do to ensure a fun gaming atmosphere for adults and kids within the same game is to get everyone on board. Before we even set up the game, or run a session zero, we can talk to the players, and let them know that there’ll be some younger players in this game. We can talk about what players can expect to be a little different when we are playing D&D with kids. Getting everyone on the same page before we start playing facilitates an open, respectful, and fun gaming environment.
Open communication
Secondly, we can adopt an open and non-authoritative style of communication with our youngest players, especially. Kids are told many times during their day what to do and what not to do. The D&D game should be a time where they can freely explore. However, there are limits. The question is just how we communicate these limits. In my experience as a DM and as a high school teacher, kids react well if they are taken seriously. For example, if a young player wants to continue dominating the action during combat after their turn, we can tell them, “Those are great ideas! But now it’s someone else’s turn. You can do those tricks when it’s your turn again.” We explain the situation calmly, insert a little positive reinforcement, and even the youngest, most excited player will often happily let the other players take their turn while they wait and plan their next move.
Check in with players (and parents)
Lastly, checking in with player between games can be a valuable move. This is especially true when we’re playing with a mixed group of adults and kids. Talk to the players, and ask them how the game feels to them. We can ask if there is anything we can improve or change to accommodate everyone’s wishes. With our youngest players, we can check in with them and with their parents. They can tell us if there’s something we can do for them in the game, and if there is any content so far which they feel is problematic. Listen to the parents, but also listen to the young players. It’s good to keep parents happy, but the players wishes matter at least just as much.
Letting young players inspire our game
When we let the youngest players into our game, they will often not hesitate to shake up our game. We can learn a lot from the honesty and creativity of these players. Embrace the chaos, create a respectful gaming environment, and talk to your players to integrate players of different ages into one group.
