Stepping Stones

for grown-ups: where do you stand, and how do you know?

What it teaches

Stepping Stones is about where you stand, and how you know. Each round puts one claim on a signboard ("Goldfish forget everything after three seconds") and asks your child where they stand on it. There are seven stepping stones, from really disagree to really agree, with in the middle between.

Then the round asks the questions good thinkers ask out loud:

• Where did that idea come from? Seeing it, being told, reading it, guessing, or working it out.
• Do you understand what they think? Not agree: understand. Before your child answers anyone, they say that person's reason back, and the person says whether that's it.
• What would move you one stone? Decided before any new evidence arrives.
• Step or stay? After the evidence, your child can move or stay. A move made for a reason is celebrated, and so is staying for a reason.

The claims are everyday and playful (animals, food, the sky) and the facts are real. The facts are the scenery; the habit is the point.

Why it never tells your child the answer

On purpose. A round shows where everyone stands and why, and brings in what someone who checked found. Then it leaves the judgement with your child. If the app handed down verdicts, it would be one more voice to believe, and believing the right voice is not the skill.

You get the background, though. Each round has a short card, linked below, that says what we actually know, with sources. Sometimes that's a clear finding. Sometimes it depends on whose rule you use. For a taste, it's that there's nothing to find. Either way, you're never caught out.

The dinner-table game

The rounds are short (about five minutes) and end the same way: ask someone at home where they'd stand, and why. That's the real goal.

1. Ask: "Goldfish forget everything after three seconds. Where would you stand?" Use the stones words: really disagree, disagree, a bit disagree, in the middle, a bit agree, agree, really agree.
2. Ask why.
3. Say their reason back before you give yours. Then let them check: "Is that it?"
4. Ask the round's question: what would move you one stone?

Children are very good at catching a grown-up who skips step 3.

The cast

• Kea, a mountain parrot: confident, often wrong, delighted to change their mind.
• Rock, a glacial boulder: reports only what it has seen or has on record. Rock can't hop, so a pebble stands in for Rock on the stones.
• A guest in each round: a Duck who watches a pond, a Snail who never rushes, an Echo who only knows what it heard.

Nobody is an oracle. Every character has a source, not an authority.

The patches

Earned for moves, never for being right:

• Said "I'm Not Sure"
• Asked a Great Question
• Changed My Mind (for a step made for a reason, in either direction)
• Saw It Their Way: said someone's reason back fairly, or made the best case for a view your child doesn't hold

What it will never do

No ads, no accounts, no leaderboards, no points to chase. The rounds keep no scores, no answers, and not even a save, only a stamp on the shelf for each round played, kept on your device.

The rounds

Animals

1. Goldfish forget everything after three seconds. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. Bats can see. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. Dogs are better than cats. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
4. Cats always land on their feet. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
5. Kea are the cleverest birds. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

Sky and weather

1. Winter is cold because the sun is further away. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. There are more stars in our galaxy than trees on Earth. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. You can see the moon in the daytime. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
4. Lightning never strikes the same place twice. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
5. Clouds are soft like cotton wool. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

Food

1. Pineapple belongs on pizza. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. A tomato is a fruit. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. Carrots help you see in the dark. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

How things work

1. Heavy things fall faster than light things. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. Space is silent. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. Metal is colder than wood in the same room. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

Long ago

1. Moa were real birds, taller than a grown-up. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. Vikings wore horned helmets. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. Some trees are older than the pyramids. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

Words and numbers

1. Numbers go on forever. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. Everyone has an accent. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. A half is always bigger than a quarter. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

How we know

1. Any answer is better than 'I don't know'. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
2. If everyone votes for it, it's true. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
3. The more surprising it is, the more proof you need. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups
4. If you feel really sure, you must be right. about 5 min
   play for grown-ups

Questions, corrections, ideas

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