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One of my favorite memories from my childhood was playing Monopoly with my dad and sister. I remember spending a lot more time making side deals and selling insurance policies than actually rolling dice and moving around the board. Before we left Scotland to return to the United States, one of our friends gave us a British version of Monopoly with properties like Notting Hill, Hyde Park, and Heathrow Airport instead of the traditional properties named after locations in or around Atlantic City. The recommended age-range on the box is 8 years to adult. I thought the kids would really enjoy playing Monopoly, but I knew that I would have to simplify things a little.
The main simplification is to ignore the denominations completely. This gets around having to do any math (we’ll start doing math when Lily turns three). We just refer to the bank notes as “pieces of money.” Here is what we arranged:
- We each start with 15 pieces of money.
- For one piece of money, we can buy:
- A property,
- A house (called an “apartment” in the British version), and
- A hotel upgrade from a house.
- If someone lands on our square, we get:
- One piece of money if we haven’t built anything on it,
- Two pieces of money if we have a house, or
- Three pieces of money if we have a hotel.
- Any time we have to pay money to the bank (e.g., from community chest, chance, jail, or the annoying tax squares) it costs us one piece of money.
- If we get money from community chest or chance, we get one piece of money.
- Passing or landing on GO we get two pieces of money.
- Landing in Free Parking we get five pieces of money (in the official rules, nothing really happens here, but it is more fun to make some money).
We completely ignore any rules pertaining to the color groups. We also allow only one house or one hotel on a particular property. This makes the game really simple to play and very enjoyable for everyone, including two-year-old Lily. We end the game after some number of times around the board, and the kids are all declared winners. (I’m declared a winner by MaryAnne for occupying the kids for nearly an hour straight.)
Playing this simplified version of Monopoly teaches the kids how to take turns, count squares, and engage in play where there are rigid rules to be followed (when playing with me, even Lily understands there is no bending of rules). I’ve learned a lot of things about my kids through playing Monopoly. Lily is very conservative and likes to hang on to her money—I would have guessed that she would be more likely to splurge on hotels. Johnny likes the houses, probably because they are green and that’s his favorite color. Emma almost always buys hotels, knowing that a little investment can pay off in the long run.
As you can see in the picture, we’ve been having a lot of fun.
Do you remember playing Monopoly as a kid? What are your favorite games to play with young kids? What other fun learning has been going on in your house? One activity shared last week that my kids would adore is the packing peanuts snow-alternative playspace at Sunnydaytodaymama. Having Fun at Home shared a fun fishing hangman game, and Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational shared a snowman-building alternative to hangman! Greening Sam & Avery shared a fun, hands-on way to help kids understand why birds fluff their feathers out in the winter! Link your posts up below!
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This is brilliant and fantastic! I loved Monopoly growing up! I never thought of simplifying it! Love it!
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Great post, I have been wondering how to make this game kid-friendly.
Maryanne and Mike: Your family is adorable!
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maryanne Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Thank you! :D
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So smart! My oldest son would LOVE monopoly but I always thought he was too young. Thanks for changing my mind!
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What a sweet picture. I did play Monopoly growing up but your British version and your simplified version sounds so cool. I love playing games with the kids, Rummikube is a favorite.
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maryanne Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
I loved Rummikub as a kid, and had forgotten completely about it! Must find a copy for our family!
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What a great way to simplify the game! My kids love playing. We usually put a time limit on it. :)
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I only know the British version and have fond memories of Monopoly as a child. Thanks for sharing your simplified version, I think we could give that a go! :)
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We play a lot of Monopoly as a family. Now that C is 7 he plays on his own, but R usually teams up with one of us. C bought Villains Monopoly when we were in Disney World – it’s very cool. This and Chinese Checkers are our favorite games to play as a family.
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maryanne Reply:
February 7th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Villains Monopoly sounds like a lot of fun!
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My kids love Monopoly Junior, which lets us work on making change, but has a lot of the simplified rules you talked about.
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maryanne Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Isn’t this quite a bit simpler than Monopoly Junior, though?
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what fun!
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Wonderful Blog. I’m grabbing your linky button. Met you on FB KBN.
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You are pretty creative to have come up with a simplified version of Monopoly for very little kids! Even Monopoly Junior is sort of complicated for little ones! My favorite game to play with little kids will always be Candy Land. :D
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Love it. Clearly Emma has the best insight into a strategy, which is understandable considering her advanced age :) We haven’t played Monopoly here. My own favorite board game from my childhood was a Russian version of Chutes and Ladders, but Anna is not interested in Chutes and Ladders at all and prefers checkers.
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That’s a great idea!
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Such a neat idea to transform a favourite board game into a child friendly version so that everyone can enjoy it together.
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[...] involved in family game night? Why not try a simplified version of Monopoly? Check here for the full instructions!As you already know, we have a preschooler and a toddler. Both love the board games for their age [...]