I'm teaching my little daughter Tarot :)

[MagsStardustBlack]

I'm so excited!! My daughter is 7 and a half and she has had her own deck since she was 3. I bought her Moon Garden so she would leave my deck collection be. She has used her deck ever since she got it. While she was very little she would look at the pretty pictures, then as she got a little bit bigger we would play Snap with her deck with the suits. Recently we have been playing Eye Spy with her deck and Moon Garden is perfect for this, tiny hidden bunnies and unicorns peeping round corners! She has such a bond with her deck, it is literally growing with her, from a place of pure innocence through a childs eyes and it will become more mature as she see's connections to more sophisticated themes as she gets older.

A few weeks ago she said she wanted to learn the card meanings and then last night she asked again. I was going to wait until she was 10 maybe but as she is keen i thought okay. So i asked her to organised her deck into suits and numbered correctly and to organise the majors in order of numbers to. She did a great job and she understands the uniform of a deck. She also totally mastered the roman numerals! I told her the very basic of the energy of the 4 suits and their seasonal alignment.

I bought her a tarot journal today and i plan to have her make a page for each card. What i want her to do is write a few key words, in her own vocabulary (how a child may see it) and then write a small paragraph of what she feels and thinks when she looks at the image (such as a little story).

I find this whole new adventure magical. And her little tarot journal will be so special, so appropriate for her whimsical imaginative age and a treasure she can always keep. I want to keep the learning fun and exciting for her.

Has anyone ever taught a child tarot? Have you any lovely ideas i may use to teach her?

 

[violetdaisy]

She's about the age I would ask my daughter to tell me a story (3 card draw) .... you'd be surprised the insight you may get about what's going on in her world, how she perceives things, what's bothering her etc. I recommend you tape the stories, or write a summary, including card names for future reference.

 

[MagsStardustBlack]

She's about the age I would ask my daughter to tell me a story (3 card draw) .... you'd be surprised the insight you may get about what's going on in her world, how she perceives things, what's bothering her etc. I recommend you tape the stories, or write a summary, including card names for future reference.

I never even thought about getting her to draw some cards yet. But I can see how much fun this would be and yes very insightful into her world and how she feels. What a great idea. We did the Ace of Swords tonight and what a beautiful story she came up with about the sword cutting the land. She won't be the only one learning so much, this will be a huge learning curve for me seeing these beautiful Tarot through the eyes of a child. Thanks for the idea, I'l definitely do this with her

 

[celticnoodle]

I find it wonderful that both of you exposed your children to the art of tarot reading while they are still so young. My mother was a card reader, but didn't expose us to it--and never did anything to help us learn to do anything. Same with my aunts and grandmother, except that we sometimes knew when they were reading for people--and that was the extent of our being exposed to it. As a result, I feel like we lost so much - though I am the only one of my siblings and cousins to go into the "family business" of divination.

I would dearly love to teach it to my granddaughters or to even just give them their own deck of cards to look at and play with, but my son in law won't allow it. He is their father, so I have to honor his wishes - (at least until they are 18yoa! ) and it just kills me.

I think you both have great ideas there on how to share this gift with them. I would just also note (which you both may already know to do anyway) to help your child(ren) feel comfortable seeing the cards in the way THEY think the card is. Even if you do not agree with their ideas--don't push your own ideas onto them. Let them come up with their own set of meanings for each card. The cards are after all, only a tool, and everyone uses their tools in their own way.

Enjoy this special time with your child(ren) in sharing such a special gift!

 

[violetdaisy]

Let them come up with their own set of meanings for each card. The cards are after all, only a tool, and everyone uses their tools in their own way.

Enjoy this special time with your child(ren) in sharing such a special gift!

I never interfered with her "reads" (meanings of cards, ideas etc.) ... I just let her go with it, wherever it took her. Except maybe for a bit of encouragement when she seemed unsure or stuck "just keep going, tell me what happened/s" etc.

There is plenty of time for "research" learning...her entire life lol.

 

[Achlys]

I think you both have great ideas there on how to share this gift with them. I would just also note (which you both may already know to do anyway) to help your child(ren) feel comfortable seeing the cards in the way THEY think the card is. Even if you do not agree with their ideas--don't push your own ideas onto them. Let them come up with their own set of meanings for each card. The cards are after all, only a tool, and everyone uses their tools in their own way.

I couldn't agree with this more. The way I read doesn't follow a lot of the "conventional" meanings and I've had some tarot readers complain about it, but each deck speaks to each person in different ways and that doesn't make it wrong or right. There is no universal wrong and right for tarot, just what works for each person.

 

[celticnoodle]

I never interfered with her "reads" (meanings of cards, ideas etc.) ... I just let her go with it, wherever it took her. Except maybe for a bit of encouragement when she seemed unsure or stuck "just keep going, tell me what happened/s" etc.

There is plenty of time for "research" learning...her entire life lol.

If she decides to keep with it, I am sure she will be an AWESOME tarot card reader! And, very confident with her reading abilities and style.

I couldn't agree with this more. The way I read doesn't follow a lot of the "conventional" meanings and I've had some tarot readers complain about it, but each deck speaks to each person in different ways and that doesn't make it wrong or right. There is no universal wrong and right for tarot, just what works for each person.

thank you, and yep, each deck speaks differently to each person. Everyone develops differently and this is what really makes tarot reading so interesting. I think it'd be rather boring if everyone only read the cards from memorized descriptions in books written by someone else. Why bother then? Books are good resources, but not meant to be the ONLY meaning. This is what makes divination so cool and special!

 

[Calayvie]

Wow, cool! My son is turning 3 in a couple of months and I would love to teach him tarot. I will keep these ideas in mind, and start to expose him to his own deck soon. I will have to take care the cards dont get crayoned, torn up, bent, or strewn everywhere, or taken in the bath! Lol. He is such a boy!
Any ideas on giving him control of his cards yet finding a way to keep them safe?

Deck suggestions for children? I will have a look at Moon Garden.

 

[celticnoodle]

Wow, cool! My son is turning 3 in a couple of months and I would love to teach him tarot. I will keep these ideas in mind, and start to expose him to his own deck soon. I will have to take care the cards dont get crayoned, torn up, bent, or strewn everywhere, or taken in the bath! Lol. He is such a boy!
Any ideas on giving him control of his cards yet finding a way to keep them safe?

Deck suggestions for children? I will have a look at Moon Garden.

First of all, I'd say, IF they get crayoned or torn up, bent, ect. do your best not to fret about it and yell at him, because that alone would probably turn him off at ever having anything to do with the cards.

So, if you are going to be concerned about that--perhaps buying a used deck at a cheaper price or just a new deck that doesn't cost much. After all, 3 year olds (and 103 year olds!) do break things--it happens. *shrugs*

I'd also try to find something that is colorful and has characters in the deck that is pleasing to a child's eye-such as for a boy--animals--especially dinosaurs or something to that effect.

And, don't forget, you could also get a deck of playing cards and just use these in place of the tarot minor set. Once your son is a bit older, at that time, you could always invest in a tarot deck. To make the playing cards more appealing to his young eyes, perhaps drawing a picture on it yourself--right in the middle or even in the areas where it is open for a drawing.

eta: after posting this, I saw a thread about a deck that just might be perfect for his small little hands. The Hanson Roberts deck! It just might be very appealing to him as well. I know for a fact that you can get this deck at Barnes & Noble in a very small size--and I'm sure you can find it online too. I've purchased this deck as gifts to others (and myself) numerous times from B&N--and sure it wasn't even $10.00. (not the ones for keychains--as that is way too tiny...) here is a site where you can find various small sized decks--

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...-8#q=Small+hanson+Roberts+tarot+deck&tbm=shop

 

[MagsStardustBlack]

I find it wonderful that both of you exposed your children to the art of tarot reading while they are still so young. My mother was a card reader, but didn't expose us to it--and never did anything to help us learn to do anything. Same with my aunts and grandmother, except that we sometimes knew when they were reading for people--and that was the extent of our being exposed to it. As a result, I feel like we lost so much - though I am the only one of my siblings and cousins to go into the "family business" of divination.

I would dearly love to teach it to my granddaughters or to even just give them their own deck of cards to look at and play with, but my son in law won't allow it. He is their father, so I have to honor his wishes - (at least until they are 18yoa! ) and it just kills me.

I think you both have great ideas there on how to share this gift with them. I would just also note (which you both may already know to do anyway) to help your child(ren) feel comfortable seeing the cards in the way THEY think the card is. Even if you do not agree with their ideas--don't push your own ideas onto them. Let them come up with their own set of meanings for each card. The cards are after all, only a tool, and everyone uses their tools in their own way.

Enjoy this special time with your child(ren) in sharing such a special gift!

Yes absolutely, I want her to create her own Tarot landscape and her own associations to the cards. Last night all I told her was the very basic energy of the Ace of Swords and let her make her own imaginings about the card image. She also drew a lovely picture of her card.

About your thoughts on feeling you missed out by your your mother not teaching you when you were a child. This is interesting as I did wonder if I was in some way taking away the Experience of learning tarot as an adult, the magic and mystery of discovering it at an older age for my daughter. But I guess what I feel she will gain from learning it now and as she grows will be richer in ways I won't understand. I just have to go with my instinct and follow her lead