In the last month or so of school, we’d often arrive in the child care centre for pick up to find Sam playing Connect 4 or Battleship with his friends or one of the staff (depending on how late we were). Given that his interests in family-friendly games was growing, we figured it was a good time to add to our rather small collection and to make an effort to sit down more often to play with him. We’ve had Trouble, Perfection, and Cariboo for years—and we’ve pretty much played those out.
Yesterday, I picked up the Disney-Pixar version of Monopoly. Sure, the concepts of mortgaging yourself out of debt, raising the rents on improved properties, and calculating insurance premiums on demand are a little beyond his capabilities. But then, so is simply reading the name of the property he’d landed on. So we figure we’ll lend him a hand with the reading, math and money management this year and he’ll kick our butts next year.
As it turns out, by the time we called it a night on his first ever Monopoly game, Sam was well in the lead. He held 10 properties, had double safety cone “houses” on the orange lot—The Eiffel Tower, Gusteau’s Restaurant, and the Sewers of Paris—and had hundreds in the bank. He rolled doubles for extra turns like he was playing with his own loaded dice, and he was quick to demand his rent when his rent was due. It was so much fun to see him catch on to the object of the game and the spirit of the competition. Early on, after picking up his first two properties while his folks were either in jail or paying speeding fines, he graciously turned down the chance to buy Tow Mater’s Junk Yard. “No thanks!” he reasoned. “I don’t want to spend my money on junk.” The second time he had to hand me cash for landing there, he realized his missed opportunity. Junk pays.
Having sat down for a short demo following an evening of yard work, we ended up playing well past Sam’s bedtime. And his first question this morning was whether or not there’d be time enough to squeeze a game in today. After all, he didn’t get a chance to set up any Al’s Toy Barn “hotels” on his properties. He’s a Monopoly mogul in the making for sure. A chip off the Ashe block.
Here’s the mini album!
Yesterday, I picked up the Disney-Pixar version of Monopoly. Sure, the concepts of mortgaging yourself out of debt, raising the rents on improved properties, and calculating insurance premiums on demand are a little beyond his capabilities. But then, so is simply reading the name of the property he’d landed on. So we figure we’ll lend him a hand with the reading, math and money management this year and he’ll kick our butts next year.
As it turns out, by the time we called it a night on his first ever Monopoly game, Sam was well in the lead. He held 10 properties, had double safety cone “houses” on the orange lot—The Eiffel Tower, Gusteau’s Restaurant, and the Sewers of Paris—and had hundreds in the bank. He rolled doubles for extra turns like he was playing with his own loaded dice, and he was quick to demand his rent when his rent was due. It was so much fun to see him catch on to the object of the game and the spirit of the competition. Early on, after picking up his first two properties while his folks were either in jail or paying speeding fines, he graciously turned down the chance to buy Tow Mater’s Junk Yard. “No thanks!” he reasoned. “I don’t want to spend my money on junk.” The second time he had to hand me cash for landing there, he realized his missed opportunity. Junk pays.
Having sat down for a short demo following an evening of yard work, we ended up playing well past Sam’s bedtime. And his first question this morning was whether or not there’d be time enough to squeeze a game in today. After all, he didn’t get a chance to set up any Al’s Toy Barn “hotels” on his properties. He’s a Monopoly mogul in the making for sure. A chip off the Ashe block.
Here’s the mini album!
Sam's photo is the best of the bunch—a shot of my playing piece (Sully & Boo) passing by jail.
Sam buys his first property, the Parr (Incredible) Family home, from Banker Daddy. 
And he collects his first rent from Mommy...
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