Playing with Pronouns

An educational card deck created by Pura Belpré Honor Award winner Maya Gonzalez and Matthew Smith-Gonzalez is designed to counter gender stereotypes and offer kids an opportunity for self expression—all through a variety of fun games!

The deck is based on the duo’s children’s books, They She He Me: Free to Be, and They, She, He easy as ABC, which already give children (and adults!) a number of ways to think about and play with gender. Maya and Matthew, queer parents themselves, have launched a Kickstarter to create the 84-card decks for even more interactive fun. Backers may also receive extras like posters, coloring pages, a play mat, and more, depending on the level of support.

They say the cards are geared toward ages four to nine, but can be adapted for other ages, including grown-ups (and they have a set in development for children under three years old). What I particularly like is that the deck can be played in many different ways—users are not limited to just one game. The set comes with more than six games ideas “but holds the potential for many more,” they say. That’s likely to give it a long life and maintain children’s (and their grown-ups’) interest. (I say this after having played one too many rounds of Candy Land with my son when he was younger….) The different games can help build skills with language, sorting and organizing, and memory, as well as many social-emotional learning skills such as empathy, respect, and inclusive thinking. Not only that, but “Through simple games you can dismantle stereotypes, interrupt assumptions, acknowledge the pressure of gender conformity, embrace difference, include every body—all through pronouns!” say Maya and Matthew.

I’m a big fan of both board games and card games (though my son now regularly beats me at Magic the Gathering), and love the whole idea of Playing with Pronouns. I think board and card games are an underutilized medium for teaching children about LGBTQ identities (the only other one I know of that is LGBTQ-inclusive is the Family Pride Memory Match Game) and I’m thrilled to see Maya and Matthew working to change that. Listen to what they have to say about the project:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflectionpress/playing-with-pronouns-gender-inclusive-educational-cards?ref=project_link

This post is one of an occasional series I’ll do on crowdfunded efforts to increase LGBTQ representation in kids’ media. These aren’t endorsements or requests that you send them money; only you can make that decision. I think it’s exciting and important, however, to see some of the wonderful, creative projects that people are doing to help all kids’ see positive images of themselves and the people around them. If you are launching such a project yourself, please let me know.)