Do tarot decks for children exist?

[Maverick]

(I’m not interested in purchasing them, as I don’t have kids and I’m not sure if tarot is age appropriate or not lol)

I’m wondering if there are tarot decks designed and oriented towards children? Maybe the size? Maybe in the design and art style, or modifying arcana terms or meaning?

Also, what are your personal thoughts on a child doing tarot? I’ve never really thought about it. I think I started tarot when I was about 10, and I used a miniature deck my mother got as a gift. It was child sized, but not meant “for children” explicitly.

Discussion

[blueeyetea]

The Happy Tarot is very cute and perfect for kids.

[PureUmami]

I know about the Faunabelle deck, but why would you want a child to do tarot? I don’t get it. Tarot is for adults, with adult problems, who are able to bring their adult decision making skills and life perspectives into the reading.

Children simply don’t need tarot. They need to learn how to make decisions and approach problems by listening to their common sense – which is still forming because their brains aren’t developed. There’s a very fine line between being empowered and disempowered by tarot readings, adults struggle with it, and even the smartest children do not have the maturity to fully comprehend it. They’re at a stage in their life where they need to be able to imagine themselves doing anything and encouraged to explore what interests them, not be told who they are by anyone or anything, least of all tarot.

I picked up the cards at 18, and I’ve had plenty of time to learn and enjoy them. I wouldn’t hide tarot from a child per se, and if an older child or teen found out about it from friends or movies and wanted to muck around with the RWS then so be it, but there’s no way I’d be pushing or encouraging a child to do it, or buying them a $60 deck for kids! I really question why people need to mold their kids into little tarot readers, to me tarot is not a toy.

OP, you picked up the cards at ten, what’s your perspective? Maybe I’m wrong and some kids do know how to approach it. And did anyone teach you how to read or was it like a toy?

[oddishjing]

The [FAUNABELLE tarot](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/faunabelle-tarot/faunabelle-beautifully-illustrated-tarot-deck-for-children?ref=discovery_newest&term=funnabelle%20tarot) on Kickstarter just recently successfully finished its campaign. This deck is specifically designed/illustrated for kids, but can also be used by adults. They seem rather cute and reminds me of animal flashcards I had as a kid.

[Dorsidh]

I also started with the Tarot at a young age. By the time I was 11, I’d read every book on Tarot that the public library had in its collection (quite a few) at least twice. My grandmother gave me my first deck when I was 12 (I’d been attempting to make my own). If a child shows interest, I would certainly encourage it. Give them a deck without explicit imagery (there are many)–you might even let them choose their own by showing them images of the various decks online. Teach them some games with the Tarot cards, after all, they originated as game-playing cards. Teach them some basics of working with the Tarot and set some ground rules. It’s not any different than teaching a child to use woodworking tools or to cook when they express an interest.

[alyssainwonderIand]

Affirmators! tarot by knock knock (sold at Barnes and noble) big size, gentle guidebook, cute imagery, nice card texture.

[velvetdelirium]

I haven’t encountered a proper “Kids R Tarot” deck yet, though tbh I haven’t searched for that specifically; I don’t doubt that they either exist already or will appear on the market at some point. I do know however that there are mini sized editions of classic decks, you can definitely find a palm-sized one of good quality.

Personally I’d be reluctant to encourage kid friendly design, but that of course is only my own very personal opinion. I suppose you could substitute Death with an image of a butterfly, 10 of Swords with something like 10 broken Easter eggs or whatever… The whole idea just seems highly gimmicky to me.

Now, I won’t judge anyone who chooses to introduce their kids to Tarot early. It really all depends on why and how you do it, and there’s certainly a difference if you do it when they’re 6, 10, 12 or in their teens. Personally I’m not sure how to introduce the concepts of death, failure, deceit, or the Devil all within a divination system to a mind still forming. To put it bluntly, imagine having to deal with: “Mom! I can’t go to college/job interview! Why? Look at this, I just pulled Hierophant, Hanged man and a 5 of swooords!”.

I could imagine and potentially understand a situation where you’re giving tarot to kids if you have a sort of a “7th generation witches” trademark to uphold. Completely different circumstances, mindset, life path… but then again, don’t think they’ll be using “kid friendly design”. 🙂

From my personal experience I can share this story: In my family occult was sort of accepted, with a “who knows what’s out there” attitude; it certainly was not mocked, but not encouraged either. I’d met one or two ‘proper’ fortune tellers when I was a kid, the one I remember better was a Romani woman. When I tried to squeeze in for a reading after my mom got one, the woman absolutely refused to even jokingly pull a card. She said something along the lines of “too young” & “fate not formed”. That did have an effect on me, & perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I got my first deck only when I was 18, when I’d started Uni.

Since then, I’ve used Tarot mostly for my inner work, to improve, meditate and reflect, though I have gotten a few unnervingly accurate readings about the future as well. I found it to be most useful during the period when I just started learning it, its kabbalistic roots, comparing some different decks and the traditions they came from, with an added splash of jungian alchemy. I believe it was rather soul-enriching for me.

Now, what use could it all possibly have for a child? I’d… ask the child, if you catch my drift. But I dunno, I guess ultimately it’s for the parents to decide.

[tiawyn]

They do exist, I saw an ad for it on Facebook lol. I can look for it if you want (working atm)

[queenbla_nk]

Kawaii deck

[TitaniumGamer]

Gummy bear tarot deck was fun, no idea if it’s kid friendly but the images are cartoony

[Aromatic_Control_975]

I like the playful heart tarot!

[Zombieinyourhead]

It depends on how they are using them. Should they be using them for divination and to make decisions? No, they need to learn how to make good decisions and take responsibility for them and how to communicate with others if they are feeling uncertain about their relationships.

I do think that they can be used as a tool for a teen to dive deeper into their feelings and to get to know themselves better or for tweens to help create a vocabulary for talking about big things they don’t know how to talk about. Are these the only tools that can do these things? Certainly not, but to some kids, they will have more appeal than journaling or endless buzzfeed or magazine quizzes.

[sirensonder]

The Whimsical Tarot by Dorothy Morrison was designed specifically for children and her premise was that children are connected to their intuition and that connection tends to close off as they go into adulthood; tarot is a way to encourage them not closing off their intuition but instead developing it. The deck uses imagery from fairytale and nursery rhymes and it comes with a guidebook for the adult who is guiding their child in using the deck. The deck is now OOP but I found the guidebook online.
I also remember seeing a deck made for children on MakePlayingCards or PrinterStudio but I don’t remember what it was called.

[mo_sto]

We’ve used these: Children’s Spirit Animal Cards https://www.amazon.com/dp/0983268703/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_i_AqgcGb2BZ2PHH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[Afraid_Equivalent_95]

Cat Tarot

[lilahunnisett]

I’ve not seen any but it’s a great idea provided the content was appropriate!