My hat is off to any child who can 'not cheat' - consistiently, at cards before age 6.
I'm not saying we never have the impulse to cheat here, but DS (3.5) plays most games without cheating or trying to cheat. He does like us to throw some hands for him in Spot It, a game where otherwise he would be trounced. He knows we let him win some. We also help him remember how to play his hand on some of the harder games, but that doesn't mean he wins.
DD was similarly pretty much past it at 4ish, I think?
The kids play a TON of games--seriously, right now they are playing cards at least an hour or day or more (Uno, Spot It, Rummikub, and Pictureka are the ones they play together)--so maybe they have less wrapped up in it than they would if it was only rarely?
I do think they might be unusual in this, but I don't know. DD especially is not not not emotionally mature, so it isn't like I have these zen children. However, she isn't really a competitive kid. She loves the play and would rather prolong the play than win in many cases.
