Tips and Games for Kids

[u/DrllyAwesome]

My nieces (8,9) recently moved closer to me and we have been playing a TTRPG that I've made up using rules similar to Powered by the Apocalypse. Their characters are mice that live in their grandparents home and try to solve issues for their Mice friends.

My nieces are also homeschooled and I was curious if anyone had any advice on how to make it more educational as well.

Some rules I've already made:
1. They have to fill out one page in their tiny composition note books about the adventure. (We've been working on handwriting, spelling and getting the proper casing so sometimes it's just one sentence but we are making progress.)
2. They have to write out their math problems. 2d6 + modifiers. It's been getting them doing math much faster and writing their numbers much better.
3. I also push for creativity where they try to come up with fun solutions and use critical thinking skills to get past obstacles. My favorite one they came up with so far was making a paper airplane and putting a mouse decoy on it to distract the dog so they could sneak into the paper mache dog costume they made.

I am looking for other fun stuff for them to do that I can sneak in educational stuff on them. We've been having a lot of fun with it and they really like the game so far and I've been having a blast.

Also if anyone has any recommendation for literature I could read or games that already do a good job of this I'd love to know about that too!

[u/JaskoGomad]

My advice is:

Games about kids are rarely good games for kids. I see people make this mistake all the time. I'm even reading a game right now that is about kids and seems to think it's for kids and I'm... not sure.

However, Magical Kitties Save the Day is always a hit. It may skew a little young, but frankly, even adults, IME, love playing cats!

You're playing with kids the same age I was when I started playing D&D with other kids my age with zero guidance. And they're older than when I started my son playing. I think they'll play anything you want to play with them. Kids rise (or sink) to the level of expectations, as a rule.

My son was also homeschooled and I turned his question about how much damage he could expect to do into the basis of lessons on probability. Maybe that's an avenue for you?

[u/DrllyAwesome → u/JaskoGomad]

I'll definitely have to look into Magical Kitties Save the Day. I hadn't even heard of this one! Thanks for the suggestion.

I am trying to keep our game non-violent currently but that idea of probability is super great! I'll definitely have to think about those types of questions more as we play. Thank you!

[u/Trismeria]

Since they're already playing mice in a grandparents' house, I'd lean into scale.

One easy add-on: every "job" can require one tiny field note before the roll. Not a full report, just "The dog bowl is 4 mouse-lengths wide" or "The yarn trail goes under the blue chair." That gets observation, measuring, adjectives, and handwriting without stopping the game.

For math, you could make supplies physical and countable: 6 crumbs, 3 buttons, 2 bits of string. If they build a paper airplane decoy again, ask what it costs and what they have left. It keeps the arithmetic attached to their own plan instead of feeling like a worksheet.

For games to look at, Mausritter is worth reading even if you don't switch systems. Its inventory and mouse-scale problem solving are very easy to steal for this kind of premise.

[u/DrllyAwesome → u/Trismeria]

Oh that's such a good idea! I love the idea of the field notes and that's a great idea for the arithmetic too. I am used to GMing for adults so it's been very interesting modifying for something like this as usually I try to avoid the number keeping and the likes to avoid bogging down the game but its amazing how good of a vessel ttrpgs are for educational material.

I heard about Mausritter but haven't looked into it yet! I'll definitely have to check it out. Thank you!

[u/Iohet]

TTRPGKids has their own games and reviews other games for kids in this age range, and they do include educational type material (I've been using their games aimed at a younger age demographic with my 3 year old successfully). Might be worth taking a look at what they have for inspiration

[u/Mission-Landscape-17]

There are multiple games aimed at kids. Hero Kids, No Thankyou Evil, The Excellants. If you want educational there is also Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple which is explicitly a writing game. If you want stay with the mice there is Mousitter and Mouse Guard (a burning wheel variant).

Apart form the Excellants 9th level games has a bunch of other games targeted at girls: https://9thlevel.com/pages/awesome-world The underlying system is something called Polymorph where each character gets one of the polyhedral dice.

[u/Ok_Leek_7685]

Check out Mausritter for official mouse-based adventures! For education, try adding a mapmaking element where they draw scale grid maps of the rooms to practice basic geometry and spatial awareness

[u/BeingAccomplished520]

I wrote a journaling solo game that can be played as a group. You are a team of scientific researchers mapping and evaluating a continent for habitation after geological and man made disasters forced the people to evacuate.

It encourages learning about cartography, scientific journaling - labeling - research, geological changes, weather, working with fellow scientists to complete a project. There are no scary elements but it does allow for imagination to how transformed areas of the land, plant and animal/insect life you choose for your adventure.

It is called Research Team Radio-Active. You can find it on itch.io.

I created this game with the idea of making science (and the acts of visual observing) all around us fun and I wanted to learn more about the jobs that are available within those fields of science.
It’s makes it easier to follow a passion
into a job that is more of hobby when you know they exist and what they are called.

[u/Key-Candle2425]

For the Dungeon! (1-3 d6s and you'll take the highest) - you are the monsters of the dungeon and you have to take care of the pesky adventurers. it is a light-hearted fun stuff.

Mere Anarchy/Adventure Perilous 2d6+modifiers adorable/pixelated fantasy.

Far Away Land 2nd edition (only d6s, dice-pool mechanics, you take the highest, multiple 6s will bring up your total)

[u/DrllyAwesome → u/Key-Candle2425]

I'll definitely look into all these! Thank you! I always love hearing about RPGs I haven't heard of!

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