Homemade Games

When I was a kid I asked my mom to teach me how to play chess.  We did not have a chess board or pieces.  My mom was a resourceful, smart person. In an hour we had gathered ceramic tiles leftover from the remodel of the bathroom, salt and pepper shakers, glass wire insulators, and many other strange things.  Here is an example from a brilliant kid! www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iPvucK_CA0

We laid out the blue and green tiles in a chessboard on the coffee table.  We had a fun time debating about which thing would be the best queen and king for each side.  The pawns were easy; we had 10 each of two different wire insulators.  The resulting chess set became a permanent display and conversation piece in the living room.

This was only one of the many fun things we made.  So, here are some ideas for you to try.  Remember Hop-Scotch and Tic-tac toe?  Most of today’s kids don’t know them!  Chalk and some small rocks is all you need.  Take the kids outside (the most difficult part of the process) and find some space in the driveway, a local park, wherever is flat.

The kids can find their own rocks or you can make quick beanbags out of socks filled with rice or dry beans and sealed with a rubber band.  Instruct one of the kids on how to do a hopscotch grid.  You can get a refresher course at: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Hopscotch. Here is the link for Tic-tac-toe: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Tic-Tac-Toe. A tic-tac toe grid on a sidewalk can keep the kids outside for a long time!  Of  course, you can join them, too.

Another fun thing is a scavenger hunt.  You can sneak in some education by asking them to make a map of their finds.  Another idea is to make it types of leaves, flowers, etc.  Give them pictures to go by. http://www.lovetheoutdoors.com/camping/kids/scavengerhunt.htm. You can do an image search for “scavenger hunt” and get lots of already made up lists! Here is another link for help: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-
Scavenger-Hunt.

As a special thing just for families, make a special “Jenga”tm set.  At a local Dollar General or similar type store, locate a set of unvarnished wood pieces.  My daughter found a box for 3 bucks!  Have everyone in the family decorate or sign a block.  They can put on a drawing or a memory piece and the kid can feel that they are still, if slightly, connected to a family.

As party game, nothing beats Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey!  You can make this game a “pin the alien on the spaceship”, “pin the carrot on the bunny paw”, whatever fits the occasion!  You can have a kid draw a large (2 sheets of paper by 2 sheets of paper) picture of something. Another one can draw a sheet of carrots or whatever works.  Cut them apart and rub the end with a glue stick, put on a piece of tape, and go for it!

You can keep a bunch of kids busy for quite a while with some crayons and 52 index cards!  Let them make a deck of cards and let them play. You may want to teach them “Go Fish” and “Old Maid”, older kids might like “War”.

The family that creates together can learn lot about each other.  Self-expression can be as simple as a drawing on a piece of paper.