At our Family Game Nights we’ve worked with kids of all grade levels and all skill levels … from Preschoolers to 8th graders.  Many times I include a game called Pizza Math in the mix of games we bring.  The box says ages 4+.  I understood the 4, but I wasn’t prepared for the + side of the age-range!

A couple of years ago we did a game night for a local church as an activity for their youth group.  Since all family members were invited, I brought some lower level games along.  99.99% of the time, I demonstrate at least 1 game at these game nights.  On this particular night  Pizza Math was the game I was left to demo.  I had several preschoolers at the table that happily played the game, making pizzas that were “half & half” … half of one topping, half of another.  When it was time to change games, I was suddenly faced with 3 young gentlemen who were easily 8, 9, or 10 years old.  “Oh, c’mon guys!  This game is waaaay to easy for you!  Let me recommend ….”  But they pleaded with me to let them play, and so since the game offers the option of 5 different ways to play, I suggested we go for “Make 10” version.  “Make 10” means you must collect 6 pieces of pizza with toppings that add up to 10.
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As a player, you are dealt 6 pieces of pizza to start to build your pizza with a draw and discard pile nearby.  On your turn, choose a card from either the draw pile or the discard pile and swap that card out for one of your pizza pieces.  I was aMAZED at how these 8, 9, and 10 year old boys STRUGGLED with what cards to keep and which to discard to make 10.  Struggled.

Now, you might say these boys were performing a bit below grade level in their math skills, but unfortunately we’ve seen this scenario repeated many times over!  When you think about it though, there is a lot to consider when picking up that new card.  What’s my total now?  How many am I short or over?  Which card shall I discard (keeping an eye on my opponent’s pizza as well!)  Which one will get me closer to 10 without going over?

So my point is, don’t be fooled by the age range on a game … especially one with several levels of play.  It may look innocent, but there may be some higher level thinking involved making a “cute” game challenging!

 


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