D&D 5E Playing D&D with my 6 year old

[NotAYakk]

So I'm planning on playing an adventure with my 6 year old, who has expressed lots of interest in playing D&D.

We've built a character -- a Storm Sorceress Noble. Picking spells was quite fun -- she is very excited about mage hand, minor illusion and disguise self. Also crossbow and true strike.

My plan is that the character is going to be a big kid -- 10 years old -- so she can enjoy playing someone "bigger" than her. And my adventure seed is "There is a festival that happens once a year. They have the best lemon tarts in the world. You aren't being allowed to go get one, and this is the LAST DAY of the festival." She also requested that a dragon be involved, because this is dungeon's and dragons.

I've started sketching out a rough draft of the adventure, and am looking for feedback on both (a) the draft and the holes, (b) playing with a kid.

THE LEMON FESTIVAL

Backstory: You are a young noble. You have arrived back from travel, and it is late and time to go to bed. But it is also the last night of the festival! And the lemon tarts you love are only sold there.

Time to sneak into the festival and procure yourself your favorite treat!

Scene 1: The Manor

Characters:
Nanny, King, Queen, Door Guard, Dogs on Grounds

Locations:
Bedroom, Hallway, Entrance Room, Tree out Window, Grounds, Fence, Gatehouse.

Connections:

Bedroom -> Tree out Window -> Grounds -> Fence/Gatehouse
Bedroom -> Hallway -> Entrance Room -> Fence/Gatehouse

Scene 2: The Road

Characters:
Captain of the Guard and Potato Farmer on road, Wild Animals in Forest, Guardswoman at Post

Locations:
Road, Forest, Carriage, Wagon, Police Post

(How do you get to town? Walk, jump on back of carriage or wagon, sneak through forest?)

Scene 3: The Town Square

Scene 3a: Games Games!
(You didn't bring your purse. But you do have a few coins in your pocket. There is an archery game where you can win more coins, however (and maybe more games?))

Scene 3b: Dragon, Green Egg and Ham
(A dragon statue has fallen down in the town square. Some kind of hazard makes it more urgent than the lemon tart.)

(The protagonist finds a green egg, somehow revealed by the dragon statue's fall. Some challenge to protect it.)

(The egg hatches a pseudo dragon, which bonds with the protagonist. The pseudodragon is a bit of a comedian (come up with pre-canned jokes). Social encounter. Maybe has to protect said pseudo dragon from a problem?)

Scene 3c: Adults looking for you!
(Have to avoid some adults who are looking for the wayward princess.)

Scene 4: The Lemon Tart Cart!
(Buying or stealing the lemon tart. Eating it. Maybe getting caught.)

I have lots more work to do to turn this into a real adventure. Should I just punt and buy a copy of "First Blush" or some other adventure I can work with pre-written?

 

[commandercrud]

They're 6. This more than enough prep already,

 

[Zio_the_dark]

Indeed I play with my 7 and 4 years old kids using a virtual tabletop projected on a tv and I must say that even if you prep nothing in advance (almost) they have so much imagination that it's easy to work a story from there. I was surprised that they naturally asked around the town for details about what they were told by a random npc...my older son even thought about buying apples and fruits bring their dog to protect them and even torches as he know they had to go through a cave later. He even showed some npc the tricks he had learned to his dog fun moments
On a side note I did not play with d&d but with custom house rules so we were more focused on story rather than learning rules (I was using automated process for the rules except a few dice roll here and there because they like rolling dices ^^)
A sad note the dog was badly wounded by a strange worm monster bouhhhh....

 

[Salthorae]

I love this.

My kids are 5 and 3 right now and I was thinking in the next year or two to start introducing them to the game properly.

They already have their own dice

 

[alienux]

My kids stared playing around that age, and it was pretty easy to wing it with them by starting with the overarching ideas. I think what you have is plenty to get started.

 

[uzirath]

I've run a lot of games (both GURPS and D&D) with my own kids and their friends, including kids as young as five and I agree that you don't need much prep at all.

Your scenario sounds wonderful and should work well. Be prepared, however, for the kid to take things in entirely unexpected directions. Let their imagination lead the way. "What do you think is in the box?" "Um, butterflies!" "That's exactly right... a cloud of colorful butterflies fills the room..."

I've found that basic puzzles that seem entirely transparent to adults are tons of fun for kids. I've done things as simple as having a first room with a pile of long planks and then the second room has a fissure that they have to cross. SQUEALS of joy when someone thinks of going back to get the planks.

 

[akr71]

I think you've done enough prep. How are you at improvising? The thing about playing with kids is that their imagination and creative thinking is off the charts! Once she gets the hang of it and realizes she can do ANYTHING, she likely will.

Its too bad Find Familiar isn't on the Sorcerer spell list. You could provide a well trained beloved pet if you are concerned it might be too much for a solo adventure.

 

[commandercrud]

Kids love having pets. Give them one even without requiring a spell. Or let them claim any animal they find as a friend.

Pro tip: Don't kill it.

 

[Quartz]

I believe there's an old thread about someone doing much the same as you.. I'm sure someone with a better memory will dredge it up.

 

[Salthorae]

I think you've done enough prep. How are you at improvising? The thing about playing with kids is that their imagination and creative thinking is off the charts! Once she gets the hang of it and realizes she can do ANYTHING, she likely will.

Its too bad Find Familiar isn't on the Sorcerer spell list. You could provide a well trained beloved pet if you are concerned it might be too much for a solo adventure.

Seems like she's a human, she could start with magic initiate sorcerer and get two more cantrips and Find Familiar