About a month and a half ago, someone gave my wife some clothing items as well as a little reversible board game of Chutes & Ladders and Candyland. On a whim, I tried to play Chutes & Ladders with my less than three year old daughter. She couldn't really grasp the game or the key moving device: the spinner. The spinner is basically a plastic arrow on a piece of cardboard and numbers are partitioned off from 1 to 6. Basically, it serves the same purpose as a die.

She also seemed overwhelmed by the hundred squares she could be on, and all the ladders and slides everywhere. She regularly moved her piece without purpose or kicked the board, so no one could remember where they should be. There is a reason board games are ages 3 and up.

We decided to turn the board over and try Candyland. Instead of a spinner or a die, players draw cards that have colored squares on them. You move by going to the next square with that appropriate color. There are "face cards" with characters on them which allow you to move up or down the board in great chunks until you get to the end. My daughter loves this game now, and we play it at least once a day. "Play Candyland?" "Yes, let's play Candyland."

The colors were easy to grasp, and grabbing cards seemed easier than spinning a wheel. She has become fascinated with the characters of Candyland: Plumpy, Mr. Mint, Grandma Nut and Lord Licorice. Her two favorites are Princess Lolly and Queen Frostine. She will inevitably start demanding that Lolly be found in the cards so she can move to that spot. "Lolly?" "Where's Lolly?" "Loooooooolly?" "I want Lolly." She's in that repetitive phase right now.

Strangely enough, she is not interested in King Kandy, who is waiting for you at the end of the color trail. Once she wins the game, my daughter jumps up and does the winner dance. Even when she doesn't win, she assumes she has and does the winner dance. It's basically a booty shaking form of the twist, but when you win a game, who cares how you dance, right?

It's always hard to describe how things are going with your family when people ask. You either say way too much or the wrong thing. I commonly say 'It's half fun, and half discipline.' When people hear that, many assume I beat my child. People always jump to extremes in their heads. Lately I've been adding the line 'Well, I play a lot of Candyland these days.' This either puts a smile on their face or confused look of almost recognition. A lot of people know they've played Candyland, but don't remember when, why, or how.

We've all played Candyland. We've all hopped around on colored squares, hoping to be the first to make it to the end. When we got our board game, it was pretty much in pristine condition. In a month's time, my daughter has ripped the board in half and crumpled or bent many of the cards. Daddy is always the green piece, and she is always red. She chose these colors, and she wins most of the time. Just like a little girl should.

Chris Jungle still plans on teaching Chutes & Ladders properly some day.