Utah Mom of 4 Makes a Living of Teaching Kids How to Play Video Games

Devyn Ricks Video Game Classes Outschool Mario Kart Kirby Zelda Utah Mom of 4

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Jun 22, 10:00 am

Photo: (Photo : BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Devyn Ricks is not your ordinary mother. She may be the very definition of a cool mom, with the Utah native supporting her family by teaching video games to kids online.

The 30-year-old Utah mom conducts her classes through Outschool from her home in Riverton. Ricks' weekly hour-long courses cost $15 to tutor kids in games like "Mario Kart," "Kirby," and "Zelda." Currently, many of Devyn's students are between the ages of 9 and 14 years old.

The gig is not bad for Ricks, who rakes in around $4,000 a month through her video game classes. Her part-time work helps support her husband, currently in dental school, and their four young daughters, ranging from 2 to 9 years old.

Ricks turns video game hobby into something more

Ricks told FOX Television Stations that it is not like they can live off the student loans and be in a one-bedroom apartment. She added that they had to find something that worked, and this is what she stumbled into. The career move was not a complete surprise because, according to Ricks, she loves video games.

Ricks said her background is teaching various foreign languages and academic classes virtually to students in other countries. The mom of four then started a creative writing class around the video game "Zelda," a move that led her to create a social club with other video gamers, which she parlayed into a teaching course back in February 2021.

Ricks said many parents of her students support her courses because she provides a safe space for their children to learn about the video games they play. She said that these kids don't know how to do a lot of these puzzles and things, and it is dangerous for them to navigate the internet solo.

Ricks would like to expand video game classes in the future

Ricks believes she is also teaching kids other useful skills, according to Utah Public Radio. Before showing her young students how to proceed in a video game, she sometimes sees if her other students know first. She added that one of the important skills she likes to teach them is a little bit of leadership. She has found out that many of her students want to share their knowledge.

The mother believes her method builds confidence, team effort, and friendships. She also believes she is fostering a community of young video gamers and breaking the stigma of them being introverted homebodies.

Ricks would like to expand her classes in the future, possibly even hiring other instructors to teach some of her video game courses. One game that she can't teach is "Minecraft," as Ricks said, she doesn't like it. The matriarch also stays away from teaching violent video games, opting instead for the family-friendly ones.

Ricks jokes she is not sure if her daughters would give her the title of being a cool mom. She did acknowledge that she is a pretty fun mom, but not so fun when she tells her kids to clean their rooms.