"Pre-Christmas time. I'm visiting friends who I haven't seen for several years because I lived in another city for work reasons.

"Intended as a Christmas present for the 4 children"

I brought a Tetralino. It is packaged and intended as a Christmas present for the 4 children, but the two 7-year-old twin boys are very curious and, with their double power, ensure that the package can be opened immediately. Which isn't so bad, because now I can experience the children's reaction myself. 

Marie*, the oldest of the siblings at 12 years old, is the first to put a picture: a house with a flower and a tree. Completely free. And beautiful.

I had suspected that she might already be too big for this laying game. “Oh no, Marie, she really loves doing puzzles,” my mother explains to me.

Coffee is ready and the table is festively set with stollen and nuts. The father comes over, carrying little Bianca*, who is drunk with her midday sleep and whom I don't even know yet, in his arms and we sit down at the table.

"It's good that there are 2 boards!"

But the twin boys don't stay at the coffee table for long; They rush together to the corner of the sofa with the low coffee table on which the Tetralino pieces are spread out. And start to pack the two laying boards full. How good that there are 2 boards! Sometimes there is a bit of an argument between the two of them “hey, Theo* snatched the exact thing from under my nose that I was just about to take” or “wait, this thing is one of my stones”, but then they always come to an agreement and it is It doesn't take long before the first one has completely filled his board and comes rushing in: "Look, Dad!" The second one immediately afterwards: “Dad, look!”

I don't know why they show it to dad. Maybe because Mom and I are deep in conversation about our professional development? Maybe because dad is a primary school teacher and was already curious about the Tetralino? Maybe because he just sits closer to the corner of the sofa? In any case, the boys lay out one version after the other, sometimes with gaps, and each time they enthusiastically rush to the dinner table and show off their work: “Look, Dad!”

"Age range from one year old to teens. Who would have thought?"

Then the doorbell rings, the twins are picked up for children's gymnastics and it becomes noticeably quieter in the house. Little Bianca is now really awake and crawls off her dad's arm. I don't know how old she is exactly, but she can walk quite well on her own and is starting to talk. Meanwhile, we adults tell each other what we experienced in the years that I wasn't there. Especially Marie, because I last saw her as a 4-year-old kindergarten child. And then all of a sudden little Bianca comes stalking up, carefully balancing one of the Tetralino game boards in both hands. There are a few of the colorful game pieces on the board and she has to struggle to carry this “work” to the table without the pieces falling down. She proudly stops at her dad and announces: “Look, dad, look!”

That was pretty funny. But it probably just shows how small children learn: they copy what they see the older ones doing.

And so Tetralino actually turned out to be a game for all four children. Age range from one year to teenagers. Who would have thought?

It's just a shame that the box is too small to fit game boards and stones in the bag. Maybe the bag could be made larger so that the game boards fit in (and then you don't need the box anymore)?"

Author: Christa*
September 2023

*All names have been anonymized.

We would like to thank Christa* very much and are really happy that she and her friends had such a great experience with the Tetralino.

It's reports like this that keep us moving forward with the confidence that we're on the right path!

All love,

Annette and Vanessa from Schmetterline