RPGs for kids

I've been talking a lot about RPGs lately mainly because the topic has been on my mind due to thinking about whether Gerry can play RPGs (also, listening to the podcast really brought back some fond memories). However, up till now, I've not actually talked about what resources are available for parents looking to play RPGs with yound kids - which is very remiss of me!

Anyway, before I get started, I should mention that I haven't read all of the stuff in the following links. However, from the stuff which I have managed to read, the site itself seems like a good site and worth bookmarking if you are interesting in introducing children to RPGs. They also provide links to other articles and websites where you can get even more info!

One of the below links also mentions a profound truth which applies to everything related to children - you can't force children to play RPGs (although you can try to encourage them). The best way to get children to play is to play yourself and let your kids see how much fun you are having. This is so true - children copy what they see adults doing (the best way to teach your child to be a good person is to be a good person yourself!). Unfortunately for me, I don't have an opportunity to play RPGs either...

geekdad
A good introduction to the topic can be found on geekdad. In particular, there were two blog entries where they talked about role-playing games for children.

The first blog post talks about how it is natural for kids to role play. This post is useful because it gives some tips on the types of RPG to play and how to run those games depending on the age of the children. It was this post which first got me thinking about Gerry and RPGs (although it was a while before I actually took action in terms of research).

The second blog post lists some online resources to help parents prepare for playing an RPG with their kids.

the escapist
This is a website linked to by geekdad and gives a lot of great information and resources aimed towards "the betterment of role-playing games". In particular, it hosts the Young Persons Adventure League which contains a lot of material targeted towards young role-players.

btw - If you remember the slagging that DnD used to get in the press for being a bastion of the occult, then you will love reading this article.

RPGs for kids
Another great site for introducing RPGs to kids. This site is setup by a photographer and environmental engineer (according to the bio anyway!) who have a side hobby of playing RPGs. In particular, the page I linked to gives some suggestions on which RPGs, some of which are free to download, you can play with kids.

It also has links to some articles discussing playing RPGs with kids. I haven't read all of the articles yet, but I really liked this article which gives a pretty detailed description of how the author introduced his 4 year old son to RPGs.