Teaching Kids how to play Mahjong

My little boy LOVES to play Mahjong. He’s three, so his idea of playing is matching numbers. (Which let’s be honest, that’s a great start to the Any Like Numbers section)!

You approach when teaching American Mahjong will have a lot to do with the age of your child. You can find many different kid friendly cards out there, but I’m not a fan of changing the rules for kids. (ie-using a joker as a single or in a pair, exposing singles and pairs, using extra tiles to make it easier). You know me- I’m a Mahjong purist.

Here are some of my top tips for teaching children:

1. Build to 14 tiles. Depending on how old your child is, start with a hand of 8 tiles and build up to 14. You can create your own hands, or use this card from Mini Mahjer** or these Matching Strips.
2. Build hands, don’t play a game. Skip the gameplay to start with- just dump all the tiles in the center of the mat, turn them faceup and have your child build different hands.
3. Use a progressive approach. Once your child builds to having a hand of 14 tiles and using the NMJL card, have them stick to one or two sections. Once they have mastered those, then they can move to another section. Using the T-Zone is a great way to do this (Evens, Consecutive Run, 369, and Odds). Once they’ve mastered these, add on the other sections.
4. Skip the Charleston. We all hated the Charleston when we first started. (Some of you may even hate it now). Depending on the age, you may want to skip or adapt the Charleston.
5. Get them their own set that they will LOVE! There are so many fun, kid friendly sets. My favorite for kids is Mini Mahjer**, but Amazon also has a lot of options. I personally like Mini Mahjer because their tiles are thin and plastic and fit into a bag (great for travel). Plus they have fun tile editions and even a Taylor Swift themed card for all the Swifties out there. We have the Woodland Edition ** and my little boy loves it! Wait for a set to go on sale and then grab it as a birthday or Christmas present.

Other helpful learning ideas:

• Practice number identification: Have your child find all the 1’s or 8’s.
• Practice color & image recognition: Have your child find all the tiles that have a dragon on them or a green bamboo.
• Play a matching game- turn the tile upside down, and have your child find the matching tiles

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**Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. I never accept money to talk about a product I haven’t used. What I’m sharing with you is what I actually use and love! And hey, if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links, I might get a little coffee money. (#momwhorunsoncoffee)