Joel Mayeski
United States
Hershey
Pennsylvania
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It was a dark and stormy night... (well, it was!)
My son, Kalen (age 3) and I decided to forge ahead into the great unknown (for him) and venture into the world of... Candy Land!
There was much "oohhing" and "ahhhing" from both of us as we contemplated candy and the path fate had set before us.
We quickly got down to business making the greatest (only) decision of the game - what color to play as. He contemplated green, but finally choose blue. My other son (not yet 2) snatched up the red and yellow pieces leaving me with green... however all of this would change in a moment.
As we started venturing onto the rainbowed bricked road, Kalen announced he was no longer blue, but... green! A smile crossed my lips as I preferred blue anyway, however I kept this secret knowledge to myself. Onward we trod, making our way toward the Candy Castle.
Kalen was pulling ahead, using every bit of strategy he could muster by drawing the top card and moving to the color shown. Then my break came and I sped past him to the Gingerbread! He closed some of the distance, but again, I widened the gap, grasping the Truffle with both hands. A victory shout was waiting on my lips as the Castle was almost within sight.
I began to be concerned... would I win? Would I see the look of defeat on my son's face? I outpaced him by a staggering distance. However, with a deft move of tactical brilliance he draw the Popsicle card, closing the distance, but still far behind. However, card after card he gained on me while I made little progress. I watched, my breath caught in my chest, as he finally landed on the same yellow space as me.
There we stood, side by side, mere paces away from the Castle. You could feel the tension, the question hanging in the air. Who would win? How would this mad dash to Candydom end? Would my years of experience aid me in a crushing defeat of my son? Would his first true board game experience be one of losing, instead of winning!?
I draw a card, slowly turning it over. It was blue and I traveled only one space.
Kalen eyed the board and then turned his card over... yellow! VICTORY! He traveled all the way to the rainbow bridge and into the Candy Castle!!
We laughed, we cheered and then I heard these words ringing music to my ears. "Daddy, can we play again?"
Edit: Spelling
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Helen Holzgrafe
United States
San Jose
California
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After a while though, you'll find yourself stacking the deck with the right cards to end either quickly or slowly. It can be nightmarish if you have to shuffle the deck, yet again because the right card didn't show up at the right time.
I liked playing "war" with a small deck of 5 or so pairs of cards with my kids when they were that age. They loved it. They also knew that I could put the game away and play some more later if we wanted, too. They could count to five and tell about red and black and knew all the names of the suits. Fun times.
-Helen
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Jay LaFountain
United States
Coldwater
Michigan
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I think your son's strategy of the mid-game color change worked like a charm, and I will have to guard against my children trying similar maneuvers in the future.
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Diane H
United States
Lake Orion
Michigan
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hholzgrafe wrote: After a while though, you'll find yourself stacking the deck with the right cards to end either quickly or slowly. It can be nightmarish if you have to shuffle the deck, yet again because the right card didn't show up at the right time.
-Helen
 So glad that I wasn't the only one doing this. When my daughters attention veered away, or I suggested that perhaps she should get a cookie, I wasted no time putting that Queen Frosting card up top so she would pick it and be ever so closer to reaching the beloved Castle.
Now that is a winning strategy for all.
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Jason Weed
United States
Memphis
Tennessee
how sweet the sound...
Fear The Hat !!!
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jadzianess wrote: hholzgrafe wrote: After a while though, you'll find yourself stacking the deck with the right cards to end either quickly or slowly. It can be nightmarish if you have to shuffle the deck, yet again because the right card didn't show up at the right time.
-Helen So glad that I wasn't the only one doing this. When my daughters attention veered away, or I suggested that perhaps she should get a cookie, I wasted no time putting that Queen Frosting card up top so she would pick it and be ever so closer to reaching the beloved Castle. Now that is a winning strategy for all.
I'll try to remember this.
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Posted Thu Mar 24, 2011 1:36 am
