Holiday Planning Game with Playing Cards: Market Place For Activities During The Holidays

Description

When thinking about their holidays, every family member has different objectives. Furthermore, time and budget are limited. By playing this game, each parents and kids can create a rounded picture about their wishes and prioritize together.

What do you need?

Playing cards:

1. You can use a deck of playing cards and put stickers with activities and the respective points/”price” on them.
2. Or you can download our playing card template and write or draw on them.
3. Of course, you can always use post it stickers or any kind of paper if you want to keep it simple. Wang Man just thought playing cards creates a competitive setting which is a suitable frame for the haggling and bargaining which is at the core of this game.

Pens and crayons to write and draw on the cards

Coins, toy money, tokens. Each has the same face value.

Let’s do it!

First of all, all members make up their minds about what they want to do during the holidays.

Then you agree on the rules.

We suggest, each member gets 5 coins with a face value of 10 points each. For a family of 4, this means in total, you can purchase activities for 200 points.

As a next step, each family member gets empty cards and writes or draws (depending on the age and creativity) the activities they want to do on the cards. There is no limit to how many cards one may use. The writer of a card also indicate the “price” of the activity. There are three different price categories: 10 points for small, 20 points for medium and 30 points for large. Later on, there might be some discussions on the correct price. For instance, a child might value playing a game at 10 points. If the parents do not particularly enjoy playing it, the value might go up. Defining the correct t-shirt-size of a story is an art in any agile project and needs practicing. Here you can learn more about our experiences with story points, if you want. (link zu story point Artikel von Brigitte)

Once done, all cards are laid out in the middle of the table.

Now, the shortest player buys the first feature. Buy the activities that you value the most. Each time you buy one activity, you need to explain to the whole family why you want to buy this activity and what is the value for you.

Discuss and negotiate for expensive activities: You can of course pool your money together to buy activities, but how can you convince your family members to fund the activity you would like to do?

The game ends, when all family members are content with the activities they have bought. It’s OK for money to be left over at the end.

What makes this an agile parenting tool?

The whole group, parents and kids alike, have the following learning targets:

• Practice prioritization to find a good solution that suits everyone
• Manage your stakeholders
• Communicate effectively

These were Wang Man’s takeaways

1. The Holiday Planning game shows the prioritization approach that helps you to define what you really want from a long “wish list”, as your resources are limited.
2. It is a quick method to evaluate a large set of wishes.
3. It gives the members the opportunity to prioritize their desires as a family.
4. In the end, you receive a  high-level prioritized plan based on family members’ preferences, perceived value, and expectations,
5. It enhances your understanding of what your family members really want.

If you try this game, please share your experiences and takaways in the comment section below. Thank you and enjoy playing!