Dear Liza,
I am still obsessing about our trip to France next year; being careful about discretionary purchases, staring at maps, comparing train routes. I am still stitching in the map quilt.
And now, I am playing a different sort of game.
Since board games are all about moving through space, I am working up a board game that will let me ‘play’ the trip before we go.
I am using an old Chutes and Ladders game board and spinner, and my player’s tokens and rewards are from Trivial Pursuit. I have labeled the spaces with things we hope to experience on the trip, like “Lunch with a View” and “Wine Tasting”.
For challenges along the way, I have made cards with the names of cities, oceans and rivers, with cardinal directions, and “alike” and “different”. These can be used during the game to create lots of different questions (or memory-joggers) like “How is Angouleme like Paris?” Or “Is Lyon north of Bayonne?”. Players get a piece in their token for right answers.
There are false starts, as always happens in any creative process. My first layout wasn’t visually interesting, and the numbers were too big. I also haven’t figured out how to balance the “getting home first” goal with the “enjoying the experience” goal. But fixing these things is part of the fun.
I have run through it a few times, adjusting the number of questions, trying to make it fun to play. When it is better, I’ll bribe Grandpa Nelson and Auntie Bridgett to play with me to test it.
I’ll let you know how it works out.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 