SET has taken Puerto Alegria by storm!

Somebody from the last work team brought a deck of SET cards with him last week and left it with me to play with the boys.

We have SET at my house, but out of the three in my family, I am by far the least qualified to be teaching how to play the game. My brother and mother far supercede me in SET abilities. When the boys asked me how I learned how to play SET, I told them that I learned from my brother, an expert.

In SET, there are about 50 cards, each with various symbols, (beans, ovals, diamonds) colors (red, green, purple), shading (solid, empty, striped), and number (one, two, three). With the 12 cards placed on the table, you have to find a set – they either need to have all similar characteristics or all different characteristics. The magic rule is “if two are _____, and one is _____, it is not a SET” (for example, if two are red and one is green, it is not a SET).

Despite my inexperience, I taught two of the older boys, Romario and Ananias, how to play the game. Once those two learned, the three of us effectively trained a small army of SET players, who have in turn, tutored another group of players. Every day, they ask if we can play the game. Age is no advantage in this fast paced game. Junior, one of the second group that learned how to play, told me that we had to practice so he could beat my brother Randy when he comes next week. Junior, who is 10 years old, said he had to beat the expert!

Once those two learned, the three of us effectively trained a small army of SET players, who have in turn, tutored another group of players.

SET is one of those games I do not mind letting them play all day, or mind when they ask me to get it out for them. Like Rummikub or Mastermind, SET takes a lot of analytical thinking which is always a good skill to develop.

I am anxious to see if any of the boys can beat my brother, Randy. There are a few that have become really fast and could contend for the title expert!