What to look our for at Origins Game Fair 2024
The Motley Kids Room!
First off, if you’re bringing kids to the con, you need to locate the kid’s room as soon as you get there just to know where it is and what they have for helping keep your kids engaged.
It’s being run by Motley Kids (see my interview with them here!), and they run a pretty amazing show. Their previous convention rooms have featured arts and crafts, board games AND TTRPGs specifically for young players, and more. Plus… sometimes kids just need a spot where they aren’t just surrounded by only adults over two times their size in the convention hall.
They have scheduled and drop in events (see here, link will work if you’re registered for your Origins badge), and it is an excellent spot to get a break and find some activities that will help your kids have a positive experience at the convention too.
Talks, panels, and events by TTRPG educators
First off, there’s is a whole GAGGLE of educational and therapeutic professionals going to be at Origins this year hosting events. This was all organized by Maryanne Cullinan (who I have chatted with on the site before here), and it is a line up of some very fun panels, talks, and workshops.
I’ll be speaking at a few of them myself too (those ones have an * near the time)!
The links here will take you to the sign up page for each event, which you can access if you’re registered for Origins Game Fair.
Thursday
9:30 am – Can a Role Playing Game Really Teach Hearing Children ASL?
12:00 pm – Don’t Split the Party: Creating Community With Diversity
3:00 pm* – Roleplaying Simulations for Young Learners
Friday
8:30 am – Why are Kids Such Bloodthirsty Gamers and Does it Matter?
10:00 am* – Gaming the Systems: How to Evaluate RPGs for Classroom Use
12:30 pm – Improv Games for Increasing Student Self-Confidence
Sunday
8:00 am* – Let it Go, Let it Go! How to Channel Your Inner Elsa
9:30 am – SEL Benefits of Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPGs)
11:00 am* – Design a Quick PG Activity for a Classroom in 90 Minutes!
Venture Society debut!!
Friday and Saturday, 9th Level Games will be running sessions for trying out Venture Society, their all-ages SEL focused TTRPG about brave animals seeking adventure and helping others along the way.
Find sign up times here (will work if you’re registered for Origins) and maybe I’ll see you at one of the tables!
Other events, talks and panels
There’s also a ton of other talks, events, and games that are outside of the people I know too, which makes me REALLY happy!! I’m glad to see so many more youth and family-focused events showing up, and here’s some that you might find interesting (note that some of these may have a cost):
How to Teach Kids to Create Games for Learning
Parenting Lunchtime Talk – GM’ing for Kids
Children’s Story Time (Thursday and Sunday)
And with that…
Have fun at Origins, and let me know if you want to stay after a talk to chat! I’m excited to be going, and I look forward to meeting some new people, having some fun conversations, and sitting down for a game or two!
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