A few years ago, my brother dropped his six-year-old son off with me and flew to Jamaica for a week. I don’t have children, and although I may act it at times, I haven’t been six in a good number of decades.
Right away, it was clear he needed attention or he’d be sucked into some digital void where a “content creator” dished suspect cryptozoology theories and preteen viral crazes.
So, I endeavored to interact with the child by finding common interests. He had absolutely no sentiments toward literature, film, fine art of any sort, world travel, world events, gardening, architecture, music of the 20th Century, mysticism nor etymology. I did not know what a Pokémon was.
He also had no patience for adult board games and the few aged video games we had in the house.
But after several attempts we found common ground: natural science. Kid was crazy for frogs and bugs and scorpions and all things creepy, hoppy, and potentially stingy.
Something in the aborted board game attempt must have taken root and he asked to make his own board game. Thus was born Frog Dare.
Here’s how we did it:
We got a shoebox-size cardboard box and, inside, drew a twisting game board similar to Life or Shoots And Ladders. We wrote in a few spaces with things like, Go Back Two Spaces, and, Start Over, and Draw Another Card. Then, we set about making the cards. They were just pieces of folded paper with various instructions on where to move a game piece — Move Forward One, Move Back Three, Move The Person To Your Left’s Piece Back Two — and specific commands called dares: DARE: You Have T-Rex Arms For Two Turns, and DARE: Call The Player To Your Right “Captain Carrot Cake” For Three Turns, or DARE: Your Bones Are Made Of Jelly For A Turn. DARE: Everyone Talk Like A Seagull For A Turn. DARE: 10 Second Earthquake!
My nephew hated all food but goldfish-shaped crackers and dinosaur-shapes macaroni and cheese back then. Being something of a foodie myself, this was deeply troubling for me. So, some of the cards I slipped in were DARE: Eat A Vegetable and DARE: Drink Orange Juice.
Our game pieces were rounded slips of paper with our pictures drawn on them.
The rules were, a player moves their piece forward one space every turn and takes a card. Whoever makes the finish line first wins and gets to remove a card from the pile and/or add a card. Luck of the draw and a taste for broccoli had Captain Carrot Cake and I playing several rounds of Frog Dare. We also had some fun designing the outside-of-the-box.
If you and whatever young people you’re riding out the storm with make your own board game or any other game, send a photo to the Source at localtourist340@gmail.com, and we’ll see about printing them for all to see.
