I loved games growing up. Naturally, I was pretty excited when I figured out part of my job got to be playing games with kids. How cool is that, right? In choosing games to use in therapy, we try to go for games that are easy to talk over, and take a combination of skill and chance to win. Each one has a great opportunity for lessons. But I think the game Sorry! tends to have the most potential for good conversation with a young child…not to mention a lesson for the adult as well.
Each card lends it to some new possibility:
1 or 2 (cards used to get out of start): You have to start small to finish the race.
Move Backward 4: Sometimes what feels like failure is really progress. (Case in point: if you “hold” one of your pawns on YOUR start space after getting out and wait until you get a backwards 4, you will end up moving backwards and can now continue forwards on your “Home” path, therefore completing the circuit to home with 4 steps backwards instead of 50+ steps forward.)
Move Forward 7 or Split Between Pawns: In life there’s more than one thing going on, and sometimes you have to balance in order to win.
Move Forward 11 or Switch Places with Another Player: Sometimes you can get farther when you walk in another’s shoes.
Sorry!: Sometimes in life you hurt other people, even when it’s not your fault. You get to choose how to go about it. Cheer and jump up and down: “Yes! I got you! You’re HISTORY!” or “I’m sorry this is frustrating for you. That’s just how the cards got played. Please know we will still be friends when this is all over.”
Games, like art, mirror life. We’re all trying to get ahead. We all hope to reach the finish line. But how you participate is just as important. The path is bumpy. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be such a victory to get through it. Unexpected challenges provide an opportunity to shine or to make a poor showing of your sportsmanship. In the end, true winners are happy just to be playing.
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