The Kids’ Tarot is a fun, interactive tool to help kids engage with some of life’s biggest questions—thoughtfully, creatively, and playfully.
This gorgeous deck helps kids explore and reveal who they are while helping them understand the world and those around them. By bringing attention to their thoughts (swords), emotions (cups), intentions (wands), and actions (coins), kids expand their self-awareness, confidence, and connection to others.
Written by author of the bestselling Fountain Tarot Deck and child psychologist Jason Gruhl, The Kids’ Tarot introduces kids to powerful characters like The Magician (imagination and will power), The Hermit (quiet observation and focus), and Strength (courage and determination)—giving them ways of naming the many different parts of themselves. Friends can ask each other questions by using the cards to spark rich conversations. Parents can use them for exploring new ways of thinking about something after a hard day at school. Or they are perfect for using on your own when looking for guidance.
This beautiful deck is a touchstone that begins to put kids in the driver’s seat of their own lives—uncovering hidden gifts, truths, and possibilities.
Before I begin the review, a caveat. I received this as an ebook. It includes images of all the cards, so while I can (and plan to!) discuss the images, the symbolism and colors, I can't discuss the physical cards, the feel or thickness or sturdiness of them, and I can't discuss the box. This is strictly a visual review. It's a shame, because looking at it, I think I really would have liked the actual deck! But at least I can get this close to it. My images will be unusual as well as they'll be screenshots of the ebook. Please don't let that put you off. As it's not a physical set, I don't have any videos either.
The Kids' Tarot is an attempt to simplify and update the complex subject of Tarot for younger readers; I would say kids from about ten years old could read this by themselves, and younger kids would easily follow an adult reading it. Jason gives a very basic history of tarot, an overview of the deck and some tips on how to use and read the cards. (I love that he consistently says that however the reader uses the cards is the 'correct' way and that his suggestions are only guidelines! A no pressure approach is definitely the way to go, I think.) There are some spreads - sadly, because this is an ebook, they're not displayed properly, but from what I can make out they seem like a good place to start. At least there's no sign of the Celtic Cross here! The most complicated spread has six cards, which isn't terrible for a beginner.
The jumbling would not be an issue in the physical book, and the spreads look interesting!
For the card meanings, we have an image of the card, the card name, a keyword phrase - I love keywords and these are really good ones - and both upright and reversed meanings. Jason has also taken pains to tell readers that they don't have to read reversals, they can choose to read them upright even if they fall reversed, which is fantastic. I know that as a beginner, I was intimidated by reversals, and I was a lot older than the target audience here!
Jason's reversed meanings aren't 'bad' in the way that some are, either; he leans more to the 'blocked' interpretation, with reversals urging us past fear or worry to reach the full potential of the card.
Reversed meaning for the Magician card
The images of the cards show titles printed at the bottom of the Majors, with names but no numbers; numbers, in Arabic, are printed in the top left corner of each card instead. Similarly, Minors have their full name written out across the bottom and an Arabic number in the top left. Court cards have initials instead of numbers. The images in the book, on the meaning pages, don't show titles or numbers, instead focusing on the images.
These are beautifully vibrant, colorful images. Some seemed Indian or Native American; some had maybe an Aboriginal tint; some I couldn't place at all, but they're all lovely. The suits tend to similar colors, but not so much as to be restrictive, and I found I kept stopping to study the images as I read through. They're RWS based and quite close to those images, but gentled and made more friendly for young users (see the Death image below for an example.)
Some of the Majors have new titles. Heirophant is now Wisdom, losing the religious connection but keeping the essential meaning; Lovers has become Love, more appropriate for a children's deck; The Hanged Man is now the Upside Down and shows a child having a great time playing instead of the usual tied up man; The Wheel of Fortune is now simply The Wheel; Temperance is Possibility and the Devil is the Trickster, softening him a bit; Judgement, with its overtly Christian themes, is now Forgiveness, retaining the meaning of letting go of old hurts.
This is a great deck for children who are showing an interest in this fun art but aren't quite ready for adult decks and their imagery. There are a lot of ways this could be helpful for children; allowing them to pull cards to describe how they're feeling, for instance, when they might have trouble with words, or as a fun way to sum up their day each evening, or to soothe worries before a school event. There's loads more I'm not thinking of, and on top of that the artwork is gorgeous and would really hold up to a lot of discussion. It might also help to show unsure parents or family friends that there's nothing dangerous in this hobby!
This is an amazing set. Hopefully at some point I'll get my hands on a physical set, but for now, I'm very happy that I got to review this one.
The Kids' Tarot is available now wherever decks are sold.
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