Rules of the Game

My six-year-old granddaughter wanted to play Scrabble the other day. I pulled out the game and she tried to tell me that in her house, they don’t keep score or use the board.

Well, in my house we do. So, we compromised. We used the board, we helped each other to spell words and find spots for them, we connected letters, but we didn’t keep score. We played for an hour and we had a great time.

The next time we play Scrabble, I will keep score. Little by little, I’ll introduce her to the rules of the game. There have to be rules. Otherwise, we’re all playing a different version and we really can’t play together. She probably won’t be happy about keeping score – at first, But, she’ll learn. I taught her how to play the board game Sorry and she’s disappointed but fine when she loses. That’s an important skill.

Rules make it possible for us to live with one another. Some rules need tweaking for special circumstances. Some rules need complete overhauls as society evolves. Board games are a great way to learn about rules and why they matter. They can even teach us strategies to manipulate rules. But, we can’t learn the tweaking part until we have the rules committed to memory.

Pull out your old Clue game and start playing. You’ll find a new avenue of fun with your grands and teach them a valuable lesson or two in the process.