Reading for Kids

[Aziah]

I was thinking of doing a psychic theme at my up and coming Halloween party...and one of the things I wanted to do was do some tarot readings. I am assuming I am going to have kids come up and want a reading (with parents permission, of course). I have never read for kids...how do you do it? Obviously things like "love" and "money" and "career" aren't going to affect kids at this age...and I am too new to know how to read otherwise. Any suggestions???

 

[willowfox]

How old are the kids? I would have thought if they are pre teen then they would have little interest in tarot, except wanting to know what they are going to get for christmas or their birthday. Probably much more interested in a magician and his tricks.

 

[Sinduction]

Depending on their age you can do tons of different things. I make stories for my nephew, he's almost 3. We look at the cards and he tells me what the feeling is. Like, "he's sad" or "they're having a party." It is a great way for me to understand how he sees his world. He loves my gilded deck. I think it's the bright colors. And he loves finding the hidden animals and telling me what they are. It's almost like a picture book to him.

The younger ones seem to prefer story time so we make up stories to go along with the cards. I like to get their creative juices flowing so I always involve them.

The teenagers will prefer more mature readings, usually more future stuff. They will care more about what you see in the cards. And the "does this boy like me." Not too far from my normal sitters!

But there are some cards you may want to take out of the deck while reading for younger sitters. Good luck!!

 

[Thirteen]

Kid Friendly Tarot Decks

But there are some cards you may want to take out of the deck while reading for younger sitters.

I'd go even farther than this and get a deck that's suitable for young querents--maybe even one that is thematic to the party like this one:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/halloween/index.shtml

There are a few decks that are kid friendly, with reasonable changes to the "scary" cards (Death/Devil) and fun pictures that highlight the story telling aspect of the tarot. As I recall there was even a thread once on decks good for kids. You might just want to re-ask that question in the Deck forum, but among such decks are:

Whimsical tarot:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/whimsical/index.shtml

Moongarden Tarot:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/tarot-of-a-moon-garden/index.shtml

Do let us know what you end up doing for this party and how it goes!

 

[le fey]

I did readings for a party of teens last year, ages ranging from 12-17. Since it was a Halloween themed party, I used the Halloween Tarot deck - it gives great readings, but with a neat, upbeat appearance.

What I found was that the older teens had all the same concerns we all do, but from their perspective.... relationship questions, concerns about what they needed to do to get into the college they wanted, or what sort of career they should pursue, the strain of having to make choices - work or focus on studies, whether or not to try to pursue a long distance relationship now that boyfriend is moving away, how to communicate with their parents, etc.

The younger ones were very interested in 'does so and so like me?' but they also wanted me to tell them something 'spooky'. With them, I mostly wound up using the cards to spark stories and let them tell me what they were. They made up some funny spooky stories and were happy with that.

The biggest hit, though, was just talking to them about the cards - a simple crash course in number and element meanings so they could decode them for themselves. Many had high interest but this was the first time they'd actually gotten to play with them. The interested stayed near me and asked questions, but the party had lots of other things going on so no one was forced to deal with it that didn't want to.

I don't think I'll ever do it again at a party I'm hosting (too much work doing this plus keeping the chips filled plus making sure rowdy kids didn't knock over candles, plus chaperoning - I had other adult help, but still...exhausting!), but I found talking to teens about Tarot was very rewarding and interesting. Many of their questions and observations were a lot more mature than some adults I've read for.