My father taught me to play AD&D when I was 8. I remember fondly the adventures our family would have around the dinner table on Sunday evenings after church, though I also remember that it can't have been easy for my dad at times, given our age and proneness to have tantrums when the dice didn't go our way (or a sibling wouldn't be nice to us in-game - my older brother has asperger's, so... you know...).
We started playing the game to help my older brother get better at communication though, and it did help him to learn to talk out his thought process and work as a team. It also provided an opportunity to see how people might react to his behavior in a safe environment.
But even more importantly, our family played together this way on Sunday evenings for years and years afterward, off and on. I still play, and I invite people of any age group to join in the fun. I'm 27 now, and I've DM'd for kids and adults of all ages (youngest being 4, oldest being 50 or so). Here are some recommendations for different age groups:
Below age 10:
-Attention spans are limited - keep the game as a whole to an appropriate length (8-10 mins per year of age the child has is a rough guideline)
-Let the players have the ability to adjust the game's outcome without rolling dice - some "hero tokens" or something that a player can use to change the game when they insist that what you're telling them isn't quite right. An abbreviated favorite moment of mine - Me: "You enter the cave, and you see a locked door: what do you do?" 4-year-old: "I find a key!" Me: "Tell ya what: give me one of those hero tokens, and you totally find a key". 4-year-old: "Squee!"
-Don't kill the characters - not without a good reason. Often, they're emotionally attached to them, and watching them get killed kills a little part of their soul. They're not ready for that yet.
-Don't be afraid to correct their behavior at the table - this is a teaching moment for how to behave like an adult.
-Let them walk away from the table when they get bored. Just keep playing.
-Avoid dark themes - let them be heroes
Teenagers:
-Prohibit evil characters. D&D should not provide an angsty teenager an opportunity to take out his teenage hormonal frustrations on the adults and NPCs at the table. Instead, treat it as an opportunity to learn about teamwork and communication.
-Talk to them like adults
-Don't let them talk over the more patient, softspoken people at the table - ask them to wait and listen to what a player might have to say if that player hasn't spoken up in a while.
All this aside, talk to everyone at the table about how they're feeling. If a particular player (young or old) is presenting a problem for the others at the table, speak to that player privately, and talk to them about how they can better roleplay their character (which is you secretly telling them not to be a jerk to the others).
We started playing the game to help my older brother get better at communication though, and it did help him to learn to talk out his thought process and work as a team. It also provided an opportunity to see how people might react to his behavior in a safe environment.
But even more importantly, our family played together this way on Sunday evenings for years and years afterward, off and on. I still play, and I invite people of any age group to join in the fun. I'm 27 now, and I've DM'd for kids and adults of all ages (youngest being 4, oldest being 50 or so). Here are some recommendations for different age groups:
Below age 10:
-Attention spans are limited - keep the game as a whole to an appropriate length (8-10 mins per year of age the child has is a rough guideline)
-Let the players have the ability to adjust the game's outcome without rolling dice - some "hero tokens" or something that a player can use to change the game when they insist that what you're telling them isn't quite right. An abbreviated favorite moment of mine - Me: "You enter the cave, and you see a locked door: what do you do?" 4-year-old: "I find a key!" Me: "Tell ya what: give me one of those hero tokens, and you totally find a key". 4-year-old: "Squee!"
-Don't kill the characters - not without a good reason. Often, they're emotionally attached to them, and watching them get killed kills a little part of their soul. They're not ready for that yet.
-Don't be afraid to correct their behavior at the table - this is a teaching moment for how to behave like an adult.
-Let them walk away from the table when they get bored. Just keep playing.
-Avoid dark themes - let them be heroes
Teenagers:
-Prohibit evil characters. D&D should not provide an angsty teenager an opportunity to take out his teenage hormonal frustrations on the adults and NPCs at the table. Instead, treat it as an opportunity to learn about teamwork and communication.
-Talk to them like adults
-Don't let them talk over the more patient, softspoken people at the table - ask them to wait and listen to what a player might have to say if that player hasn't spoken up in a while.
All this aside, talk to everyone at the table about how they're feeling. If a particular player (young or old) is presenting a problem for the others at the table, speak to that player privately, and talk to them about how they can better roleplay their character (which is you secretly telling them not to be a jerk to the others).
