For players of all ages, there are a ton of benefits to Dungeons & Dragons (and games like it). But this is even more true for young players, who are in a prime stage to learn social emotional learning skills. Unfortunately, not all kids are ready to play D&D proper. They may be afraid of the dark or monsters. They may have a hard time sharing the spotlight, taking turns, and tolerating failure. They may not have the cognitive or mathematical skills to grasp the rules and make meaningful decisions in the game. My toddler, for one, doesn’t have the alphabet all the way down; there’s no way they could read a D&D character sheet! But, with some clever modifications, I was able to get them in a game. Here’s how I did it, with help from fellow Young Dragonslayers Dungeon Master and writer of TTRPGkids Steph Campbell.

Teachers, parents, and others are wondering how to teach biology in a fun way. The game of Dungeons & Dragons has already been used to teach social emotional learning, sign language, history, and more. Why not use D&D to teach biology and conservation? Mage Hand Press, creator of custom D&D content, teamed up with the Center for Biological Diversity, scientific advocate of endangered species, to create a totally unique monster manual. In this book, you won’t find orcs, goblins, or kobolds. Instead, each “monster” is inspired by a real-world extinct animal. The Book of Extinction has two versions for each entry. One is the actual creature from our world: its history, biology, and the circumstances leading to its extinction. The other is a creature with lore, magic, and abilities that are inspired by the real-world creature but more suited to the world of D&D. As a team of educators, parents, therapists, and youth workers bringing D&D to young players, we’re always looking out for awesome D&D resources for teachers, and we fell in love with this one immediately. We got to chat with Lucas Zellers, the lead writer for the Book of Extinction, about his journey from D&D player to honorary conservationist.

More and more, young people are drawn towards the game of Dungeons & Dragons, and they’re desperate for a place to play. Some find friends or library groups to play, but many wish for an after school D&D club where they can play with their friends and be guided by a trusted teacher. I know, I’ve met them! I run games of D&D for after school clubs online, at libraries, and in community centers. Though getting things started is intimidating, I’ve seen just how beneficial these kinds of groups can be, and I’m here to help share DND educator resources, tips, and tricks to help teachers, youth workers, and other educators get a D&D school club off the ground – even if you’ve never rolled a die in your life!

There are a multitude of reasons people love playing Dungeons & Dragons. But one that I see over and over is the way you can tell a story through the game. By creating characters, describing actions, rolling dice, and going on adventures, players and the Dungeon Master can build a story together. Some ambitious players have even recorded their characters’ adventures in the form of a book! If you’ve ever considered making this leap, now is the perfect time; November is National Novel-Writing Month, where thousands of writers of all ages make it their goal to write a novel-length story in thirty days. If you feel you’re up to the task, read on to learn how you, too, can create a novel from your Dungeons & Dragons campaign!

With Halloween coming soon, many Dungeons & Dragons players are in the mood for one thing: spooks, scares, and skeletons (or your monster of choice). Fortunately, the game contains loads of fun monsters and creatures perfect for the season. But newcomers to the game can find sifting through all of the available materials intimidating; luckily, there are many adventures out there that have already been put together. We’ve selected three great starter adventures for beginning Dungeon Masters that may be just the thing to get a Halloween one-shot together this spooky season.

As the world becomes increasingly digital, the ways in which all players, especially kids and teens, engage with these games has expanded beyond the traditional tabletop. This piece is meant to unveil a fraction of the plethora of methods for young adventurers to embark on epic quests, emphasizing online play while also delving into the enchanting realm of play-by-post. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned player, there's a mode of play waiting to whisk you away into a world of wonder.

In a game fueled by boundless imagination, music and ambience can take your Dungeons & Dragons campaign to the next level. As such, you’ll need to be prepared with only the best sounds, ambience, and music. Get ready, for I shall guide you through a quest to create the greatest D&D Playlist of them all!

Howdy, partner! Welcome to the wild west of Dungeons and Dragons. To best get you going on your tabletop game, you’ll be needing some fine dice. There are all different colors, styles, shapes, and sizes, so you’ve got a lot of options to choose from.

We’ve compiled the information you need on everything dice-related. We’ll tell you what dice you need, cool specialty dice options you might not have heard of, and where you can find them. We’ll also share our top 10 recommendations for online stores that sell dice and other D&D supplies.