RPing with Kids: The Ongoing Quest

At my school, the Junior Primary are lucky enough to have Clubs. Once a week, for 40 minutes, the Grade 2s and 3s are allowed to choose an elective club, run by a teacher. Usually the clubs are focused around a specific activity, such as Cooking Club or Music Club.

Last term I ran Coding Club, where a group of boys and I explored the web version of Lightbot. We all really enjoyed that as an introductory activity into 'thinking like a robot'. This term, I wanted something different.

Grade 2 and 3 boys problem-solving using Lightbot.

Roleplaying is one of my passions. I thought that I would try to use the medium of Clubs time to introduce roleplaying to my students. The name Roleplaying is a bit abstract to the 7-9 year old market I'll be targeting, so, the idea for Story Game Club was born. It's a bit convoluted but it does describe what I want to do- use a game to tell a story.

Clubs time is happening later today, so I wanted to do my write-up beforehand. I have found a system that will probably work great- Hero Kids by Justin Halliday. He has a great bundle on DriveThru RPG that is reasonably priced for the content included. I've chosen an introductory adventure, printed out the 10 prebuilt character/classes and read the simple core rules.

There is one thing that is concerning me, and that is number of players. Those of you that are familiar with RPGs will know that generally it's better to have a small group of players, 4 is ideal, 6 is maybe a push. As a school club, it would be better if I had a club concept that is 'open to all' in order to:

a) give all the students the right to choose their elective
b) ensure other teachers aren't left with massive groups to control

If I end up with 10+ students who want to do Story Games Club, then the concept for the Club will become unobtainable. I've worked on my pitch for today in order to try and draw the right students, and I've been given the nod to have a small group of 6 or so... I'm hoping I can draw these students into roleplaying and show them something new. I'll report back after our first session today.

Bonus picture of a Grade 00 and his bunny tower made in Sheppard Software: Paint and Make Easter Egg Hunt.