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I'm a convention vet - been going for decades. But this time is the first time I'm going to be attending the entire show W-Sun with my nephew, who's 11 years old.I'd appreciate any ideas or tips from folks who've gone with kids in tow, as well as any panels that might be more kid-friendly.Thanks in advance!
How ‘kid-friendly’ definitely depends on the kid. At that age, my kids were not as interested in ‘talking heads’ panels, but would sit through short ones. They were more interested in sneak peeks, performances, cool offsites, etc. They would be interested in seeing actors from properties they enjoyed, but weren’t as interested in 45 minutes of talking. But if that was interspersed with sneak previews or trailers or some such, they liked that. They enjoyed the interactive things to do at the offsites, like on the Bayfront lawn or the PetCo Interactive Zone. They liked going to the Exhibit Floor and picking up swag. I remember them meeting Sergio Aragones and loving it when he drew pictures of Groo for them. They also enjoyed the Quick Draw panel and the Nintendo offsite.Make sure the child has a small backpack. Fill it with snacks and a couple of drinks (preferably a bottle with a cap so they can take small drinks and reseal it), some comics and maybe a device for playing games. That way they can eat when they are hungry and entertain themselves when in line. Do make sure that you take them to a proper sit down meal somewhere at least once a day. If the child has a property they enjoy, help them dress up in costume or at least in a t-shirt related to that. It helps them feel involved and like a part of thof con as they go around.
I've been taking my kids (who are 4 & 7 now) since they were tiny. This is all great advice, and the one thing I would add is to make sure the kids have a little down time to be kids. Whether it's running around on the grounds between the Con & the Bayfront or checking out the stuff at Petco, they need time to relax and get some energy out in ways other than walking the halls don't allow. Snacks/distractions/electronics are all great ideas. Just remember to find time in your agenda for things that fit their agenda.And yes, we totally dress them up as Daleks every year, because it's just fun.
Fun times; I've been going with my older kid (17 this summer) now for most of his life. Obviously everything depends on the temperament of you nephew, but some times that worked like gang-busters for my kid at that age:* backpack with plenty of activities: books, comics, game devices, tablets, etc. Stuff to do while waiting in line or if something is going on that is "boring" in a panel the two of you are in together (remember CCI security get snippy if you have a tablet or phone on while they screen footage).* snacks in their backpack w/water* try to take either blocks of the day, or even a full day or two, where THEY get to call the shots on what to do. For me, Thurs-Sat. were panel days that I generally dictated, but I let my kid lead the way in the Exhibit Hall most of the time, and let them pick what to do on Sunday. As my kid got older and our tastes differed more I let him be more independent, but at 11 I was letting him pick some panels and what not: giving him 'ownership' of the experience a little bit goes a LONG way when asking him to sit through a panel or two they might not care about.I always tried to think of ways to get my kid a little bit of freedom when I could, and in my experience he was very laid back about other stuff that I wanted to do. I still do that, and that sometimes means hanging out for awhile while he demos video games or something I'm not into but it means a lot to him
Jesse, is it a current game? It's possible the game developer might be at SDCC. If so, they might love seeing a kid coming up in a costume from one of their games.
Great idea. It’s Undertale by Toby Fox. I know he’s currently working on another game (Deltarune). Don’t know if he does the con circuit. I’ll check it out.