Anyone who has spent any time with Zach over the last 6 months has probably played the game, "I am thinking of a..."
When Zach first started playing this game I encouraged it. I thought it would be a great way for him to start learning logic and the powers of deduction. I know, its asking a lot from a six year old who spends most of his time shooting imaginary bad guys while he writhes about on the floor, couch, Kristin, or whomever or whatever else may be nearby.
The game goes, for those lucky enough to have not played it, "I am thinking of an animal." When you were asked that question, you try to guess which animal was being thought of (sounds easy enough).
In the beginning we were always thinking of a number. Then the game progressed to animals, and were always, tiger, bears, wolfs, etc... and Zach would always just start guessing all the animals we had guessed before. This is where the logic and deduction come in, we started trying to teach him how to narrow down possible answers by asking good questions. i.e. is the number above 100, does the animal have fur.
The game can be played in the car, or while waiting, or in church, or at the grocery store, really it can be played anywhere. It can be
played at dinner, or before bedtime. It can be played sitting outside
listening to the birds chirp, or even early in the morning...
One morning Zach came into my room at about 5:30AM. He was ready to start the day. I was not. Shannon was out of town for the weekend, and I had stayed up way to late playing video games or reading Game of Thrones. As I laid in bed, Zach asked the question:
"So, I am thinking of an animal?"
"Does it have four legs?"
"Yes"
"Does it live in North America?
"No"
"Does it live in Africa? (most animals live in the African Savannah)
"Yes"
{a few other questions probing about various animals in Africa that I have learned to ask}
"Is it a Cat?"
"Yes"
"Is it a Lion"
"No"
"Is it as bigger than a Lion?
"No"
"Is it a Cheetah?"
"No"
{... I guessed every cat I could think of that lived anywhere.}
"Does it eat meat?"
"I think so, it eats birds."
"Birds?"
"Yes"
"Zach, I can't think of another small cat living on the African Savannah that eats birds."
"Just guess?"
"I have..."
"Its a
caracal?
"a caracal?" {honestly, had he given me a thousand guesses, I would have never guessed this; but you should know what a
caracal is!}
Thinking I had spent some quality time with my son, I tried to go back to sleep. Not sure if I was asleep for 20 minutes, or no minutes, I hear in the distance, "OK, I am thinking of another animal?" {really?}
After following the above script, I am left again with a small African cat, that lives on the Savannah, except that doesn't eat birds.... and again I don't have clue.
".........."
"no, just guess daddy."
"Its a
Serval" {why are you torturing me so early in the morning with these mythical cats from a land you couldn't even find on a map. }
Fast forward to today while riding in the car.
"I am thinking of a State"
"Is it a state you've visited?"
"I don't know?" We then listed all the states he's visited, and it wasn't one of those states.
"Is it by an Ocean?"
"Yes the Atlantic Ocean?"
"We listed off all the states on the Eastern Seaboard, none of which were correct."
"Is it a big state?"
"Yeah, actually it may not be a state."
"Is it a country?"
"Yes, it might be a country."
"Is it Africa? (see above)"
"No, its in the Atlantic Ocean"
"France, England, Spain, Portugal?"
"No, No, No, No, Do you want to know what letter it starts with?"
"YES!"
"U."
"U?"
"............... Europe?"
"Yes, you got it. You're turn to think of a State"
