One of my students has a flare for making up games.

She generally will make up these games just after playing one that I have taught her, nearly identical, but with her own twist.

I like to call these games, “I win.”

I might also add, she’s oddly competitive with me (“please stop coloring because I’m not finished yet, so let’s color at the same speed”).

Often she will change the rules mid-play to suit her needs, as 8-year-olds are wont to do.

The directions she gives are a jumbled mix of words in English that don’t exactly make sense when put together (despite being fluent, as her father spent his childhood in the US and only speaks to her in English). So, I go for the “let’s just play and you can teach me as we go along” strategy.

I find this hilarious and entertaining and will act extremely confused (not hard when it comes to “I win” games), just to see what rule she will pull out next.

For example:

Her: “We can each take a turn and say a number or letter and then write it in the square.”
Me: “Ok, number six.”
Her: “Mmm, actually I don’t like six, so can you please choose a new number that I like. Also, you can’t say ‘z’ again.”