Solitude for Families with Young Children

The bulk of this website contains the rules and setting for Solitude, a LARP for adults. This is the only page related to Solitude Junior, a family activity for young children. If you are participating in Solitude Junior with your family, the rest of this website might be of passing interest but is not relevant for the family activity.

Solitude Junior is a family activity to introduce children to LARP. 

Solitude is a game for people 18 and older, but Solitude Junior welcome families with children as young as 3. Together as a family you can build and decorate a basic foam sword and engage in imaginative play with other families.

Basic expectations

Solitude Junior is a family activity. Anyone under 18 is expected to attend with a parent or guardian. Adults are expected to actively participate alongside (or in battle against) their children and to supervise their children's adherence to our safety rules.

We will supply the materials for each family to make foam swords suitable for children and adults to use. These materials come at a moderate cost, expected to be around $30 for a pair of swords (for child and adult). You can make additional swords at $15/each for additional parents and/or children.

Solitude Junior will involve light play combat using these foam swords. Children under 15 are not permitted to strike other children; instead, the children will battle adults. Rather than a serious contest of skill, these battles are for the entertainment of the children and to introduce them to the fun of swinging a foam sword around.

Foam sword play combat is a largely safe activity. Children are capable of hurting someone using a foam sword, but while they follow basic safety rules they are unlikely to do so. As with any athletic activity, though, the potential for injury exists. While injuries caused by foam swords themselves are very unlikely, trips, falls, and bumps into walls are a real risk.

In addition to play combat, we will try to engage children and adults in other forms of imaginative play. Not every story needs to involve fighting!

Children will be encouraged to develop hero personas, powers and backstories with the help of their adults.

Expectations for Children

To participate in Solitude Junior, a child should be able to:

• Listen to and nearly always follow basic safety rules. Some examples: children will not strike other children; swords must be held by the handle; do not punch, kick or grab; stop fighting when you are told. Children make mistakes, but these rules are important and children cannot participate unless they can take these rules seriously.

• Hold a foam sword about 30" long and exercise basic control over it. A sufficient level of bodily control lets a child hit lightly, not whallop with every strike.

• Handle light physical contact when hit by a foam sword. For this one, we are relying on adults to know your children. It is not at all unusual for a young child to be unhappy to be hit by a foam sword, even very lightly. While there's nothing wrong with a child who is not happy being hit, children will not be able to participate in all Solitude Junior activities if they cannot be hit.

Children who aren't prepared to fully participate are welcome to attend sword-making activities and battle their own family.

What to bring

1. Your child and yourself!

2. Comfortable athletic clothes for both of you. Costumes are encouraged, but not expected. Dress like you might to play a casual game of soccer. Consider the weather; we will be outdoors for the entire duration of the activity. Removable warm layers are a very good idea; foam sword battles are good at keeping you warm, but there will also be sitting-down time for sword making and imaginative play.

3. Water bottles. Water refills are readily available. Name labels on the water bottles are recommended; lots of kids have similar-looking water bottles!

4. Food, if you plan to eat during the activity. Snacks to share will help make friends!

5. Sunscreen

6. Optional but recommended: a brimmed hat. A brimmed hat provides an additional layer of protection against accidental strikes to the face, which can upset anyone (let alone a young child).