Ask Roger

Roger welcomes any questions or suggestions you have about the games and how to best utilize the site. To ask Roger your question, email him at roger@grandparentgames.com.

Below are Roger's responses to questions users have asked.

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Explore the World

Kidtown

See the USA

Kidtown (back to top)

My daughter loves to 'Explore the World - Kidtown" - What are some tips I can share with my mother to keep her engaged on these pages?

This depends on how old your daughter is. For little kids, 2-3, it really is best to figure out what the kid likes and keep giving it to her. Kids that age like to see the same thing again and again. The point is, after all, for your mother to enjoy seeing her granddaughter excited. So thats really all there is to it: let the child dictate where to go and have the grandmother entice the kid with good stuff.

For older kids, the idea is to ask questions. What else is like this? Is there another animal that walks like that? Let's draw that flower (on the shared whiteboard). It depends on the age of the kid, but the real job of the grandparent is simply to get the kid enjoying, talking, and thinking. As the kid gets older, challenge her memory. Where did we see the video of the pig? Was there a pig in the see the USA game too? In which state?

See the USA (back to top)

How do you play the USA game?

The USA game is meant for children of all ages. Its intent is to get a conversation going about anything that happens to interest the child. It will also teach geography, as a side effect, as well as some history, science, music, and sociology. What I mean by that is that you can discuss why New York has subways if you like and why there are so many wild animals in montana. You can also discuss why hot water turns to snow when thrown from a coffee cup in North Dakota when it is it is 47 below. Let the child lead discussion. I have Milo saying he wants to go to San Francisco to see the cable cars and Texas to see the calf roping. When he is older we can talk about why those things are in those places. Later, after we have driven back and forth many times I will ask what states are between Texas and California.