Yes, you can use Oracle Cards with Children

Oracle cards have now been published in a variety of themes that are suitable for children – animals, angels, unicorns, dolphins, flowers or simply pictures of children going about their day to day business.

The Children Tarot (published by Lo Scarabeo) by Lele Luzzati (pictured left) is one such example and the Whimsical Tarot (published by US Games) by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Dorothy Morrison is another.  There are also various sets more suited for use with teenagers such as vampires, dragons, romantic love, UFOs etc.

Oracle cards – including Tarot – are no longer used simply for telling the future but also for self-development and discovery and creative inspiration.  Not only do they help us tap into our intuition to answer the burning questions we have but they are also very useful to encourage communication with others.

Children particularly love looking at the cards. They are fascinated by the colour and subject matter of the pictures and are often more easily persuaded to discuss their thoughts and feelings in relation to the pictures that appear on the cards – rather than just talking to another party.

This can be a very useful tool when communicating with children and teens for counselling purposes, or if you are trying to get to the bottom of an issue that is still causing physical pain despite apparent physical healing – or simply as a fun and creative exercise at home.

Here are a couple of ideas to try.

Using cards to get talking

This is a great technique to use if you have a younger child who is having difficulties expressing their feelings:

1. Show them some age/subject matter appropriate cards (ideally without words) and ask them to pick a card that most represents their feelings (if they want to pick a couple of cards that’s fine too)
2. Ask them what they think the character in the card is thinking – what they would say to you if they could talk. The child will very probably associate their own situation with the character in the card and so will in fact start to express their own thoughts by pretending to be the character.
3. Using your own expertise this can be an opening to discuss the real issue the child has.

Create your own set of oracle cards

As an educational and creative exercise, take a concept such as jealousy, communication, bullying, love or imagination etc and give the child the materials to create a card that represents that idea:

1. Discuss the concept briefly depending on their attention span.
2. Show them a set of subject/age appropriate shop-bought cards and ask them to pick 1-3 cards that they connect with that feeling.
3. Discuss the cards with them and encourage them to explain to you why they have chosen that particular selection.
4. Now ask them to create their own card (you can use a blank note card) to express their own personal understanding or focus.
5. They can gradually build up their own set which they’ll love and may even be able to use them to express their feelings in the future.

For older kids/teens

Older kids and teens will want their space and privacy and so may not be so willing to share but they can still benefit from some time working with the cards if it’s something they enjoy. Taking them out to a store to choose their own set or else giving them some as a present may be a first step.

If they need help getting started they could think of a selection of key words which they associate with the pictures in the cards and then progress to the following:

1. Still using a theme or concept that is relevant they can pick cards and then create a descriptive passage in their journal or blog which explores their personal understanding of the card and how it relates to that theme.
2. Alternatively they can conduct a creative exploration of the card – ie picture, painting, video, audio recording, poem, collage, scrap-book page, story etc.
3. Another idea is to ask them which cards do they associate with famous people – actors, musicians, historical figures – and why.  Any of the formats above would be useful ways of expressing their ideas.

Enjoy! :)