Our daughter tends to approach her activities with gusto.
When she was two years old she discovered a love of puzzles, assembling 100 piece puzzles on her own, with me there for company (and to serve as the occasional gatherer of “all the black and white striped zebra pieces,” for example, as directed by the little miss.).
Almost four years old now, she has applied that same sense of zeal to mastering a variety of games: Solitaire, King’s Corner, Uno, Triominos
We play the card games everywhere: at the doctor’s office, in restaurants, in the back seat of the car, while we’re out and about (on our android phones when there isn’t a flat surface on which to play!).
She’s not just fooling around either, she’s actually really good! She strategizes, holding cards until playing them benefits her. Creating variations to make the game more challenging. I’m certainly not that focused despite my love of winning.
And each time she kicks my ass, she kindly reassures me, “Mom, it’s okay. We can play until you win too.” Gee, thanks, honey. “Okay, let’s play!” After all, she’ll be heading off to college before I know it. And games are fun!
Go Miss Leyba! And go parents who play thinking/educational games with their children, including cards! =D I love that playing card holder, by the way. I’ve been meaning to get one of those for my niece — we improvised last time by having her lay out her cards on a bookshelf so she could see them all (and yet hide them from me!). May I ask which card holder Miss Leyba has in that photo?
Thank you, Alexis! The card holder is by Gamewright and it’s called the Little Hands Card Holder
. We LOVE it! Our daughter can put the cards in by herself and it’s small enough to be portable. We carry it around with us everywhere! :)
How wonderful! Do you have “Set”? It’s great fun for every age, and little ones are often better at wrapping their minds around it than grown-ups. When Julia was 5 we used to play it with her schoolmates, and I usually take it on plane rides. Shall I get it for Miss L’s birthday?
We do already own Set. We grew up playing Set too and it’s a family favorite of David and mine! Our daughter doesn’t quite get it, but we think she will soon since she loves Quirkle Cubes and that’s a variation on Set. Thanks for thinking of us!
HAHA! i love that miss leyba will let you play until you win :D what a sweet girl!!
So sweet, supportive and encouraging! That being said, we’ve seen her do a little dance and sing, “I won! I won! I won!” before we continue. LOL!